“Due to the increase in the number of infections, the Ministry of Health announced that as of this afternoon (9:00 am in Lisbon), masks have become mandatory in all closed spaces except for homes,” the government statement read.
Despite the order on enclosed spaces, the Israeli authorities advise the use of a sanitary protection mask in areas where people congregate in the “open air”.
The same note says that children under the age of seven, people with disabilities and those who play sports indoors are exempt from wearing masks.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned that if there were 100 more new cases of SARS-CoV-2, mask use would become mandatory.
Since Monday, health authorities have counted more than 100 new cases of COVID-19, reaching 227 during the week, according to official figures released on Thursday.
Israel also announced this week that it would delay the decision to reopen the area to tourists “due to concerns about a potential delta-type spread”.
Last January, more than 10,000 cases were registered daily and the vaccination campaign reduced the number of infections.
More than five million (of a total of 9.3 million Israelis) – 55% of the population – have so far received two doses of the vaccine.
In all, 6,428 people have died per covid-19 and there have been 840,000 infections since the start of the epidemic in Israel.
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