Covid-19 in Israel: relief from the third confinement
Prayer in the weather of Covid-19 on the street of an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem, October 1, 2020 (illustrative image).
MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Hairdressing salons reopened, customers returning to certain shops and trips that can stretch over more than a kilometer: this Sunday, February 7, Israel begins to emerge from its third containment since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic against a background an intense vaccination campaign.
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On the night of Thursday 4 to Friday 5 February, the government announced an alleviation from this Sunday 7 February of the containment put in place since the end of December 2020 in the wake of a new wave of contamination.
Thus, this Sunday morning, non-essential businesses were able - for example - to reopen in Jerusalem, such as the barber shop of Eli Aroas: “
I informed my clients that we are going back to work (...) arrive and we hope this is the end of this saga,
”said Mr. Aroas, 58, while waiting to get his scissors and beard trimmers out.
Sarit Reouven, 49, came to central Jerusalem to buy shoes just in time for her son's wedding on Monday.
“
This reopening is really a good thing.
There is a wind of optimism in the air
(...)
I believe that we can already foresee the end of the crisis
", she said, hoping to get out of her"
last confinement
".
A deadly month of January
Since mid-December, and thanks to an agreement with the giant Pfizer on the sharing of its medical data, Israel has vaccinated more than 3.4 million people (nearly 40% of its population), including more than two million received a second dose.
But, despite the containment measures, and this intense vaccination campaign, January was the deadliest month since the start of the pandemic in Israel, with more than 1,000 deaths from the virus.
According to the latest report from the Ministry of Health, the country of nine million inhabitants has officially recorded more than 686,000 cases, including 5,074 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The Hebrew state is currently registering an average of around 6,500 new cases per day compared to around 8,000 in mid-January, according to official figures.
And since the vaccine takes some time to be effective, the authorities expect the number of cases, and especially hospitalizations, to decrease in the coming weeks.
Since Sunday, Israelis can move beyond one kilometer from their homes.
Nature reserves and national parks have also announced the reopening of their doors, as have guest houses, but only to nuclear families.
No international flights before February 20
As for the hotels, they remain closed and restaurants are once again allowed to sell take-out but not to serve their customers on site.
International flights, almost all suspended since January 24, will not resume until February 20, the government announced Friday, which is also maintaining the closure of land borders.
Transport Minister Miri Regev, however, told military radio on Sunday that the government would allow Israelis stranded outside the country to return with special planes before February 20.
The cabinet must finally meet again on Sunday to decide on the continuation of the deconfinement measures, in particular with regard to the school system, completely closed for more than a month.
(
with AFP
)
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See also: Covid-19: lack of volunteers, the vaccination campaign slows down in Israel
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