2020 coronavirus pandemic in Israel

2020 coronavirus pandemic in Israel

Coronavirus warning signs at the entrance to an urgent care center in Lod, 8 March 2020
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Israel
First case	Ramat Gan
Arrival date	21 February 2020 (3 weeks and 5 days)
Origin	Wuhan, Hubei, China
Confirmed cases	433
Recovered	11
Deaths	0

Magen David Adom in Tel Aviv

The first case of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic in Israel was confirmed on 21 February 2020 after a female citizen tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 at the Sheba Medical Center after return from quarantine on the Diamond Princess ship in Japan. As a result, a 14-day home isolation rule was instituted for anyone who visited South Korea or Japan, and a ban was placed on non-residents and non-citizens who were in South Korea for 14 days before their arrival. On 11 March, Israel limited gatherings to 100 people. On 15 March, gatherings were limited to 10 people, with attendees advised to keep a distance of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) between them.

Timeline

COVID-19 cases in Israel  ()      Deaths        Recoveries        Active cases
Date			# of cases
2020-02-21		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	1(n.a.)
2020-02-22		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	1
2020-02-23		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	2(+100%)
2020-02-24		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	2
2020-02-25		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	2
2020-02-26		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	2
2020-02-27		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	3(+50%)
2020-02-28		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	7(+133%)
2020-02-29		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	7
2020-03-01		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	10(+43%)
2020-03-02		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	12(+20%)
2020-03-03		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	12
2020-03-04		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	15(+25%)
2020-03-05		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	17(+13%)
2020-03-06		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	21(+24%)
2020-03-07		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	25(+19%)
2020-03-08		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	39(+56%)
2020-03-09		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	50(+28%)
2020-03-10		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	70(+40%)
2020-03-11		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	82(+17%)
2020-03-12		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	109(+33%)
2020-03-13		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	143(+31%)
2020-03-14		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	193(+34%)
2020-03-15		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	213(+10%)
2020-03-16		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	298(+40%)
2020-03-17		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	337(+13%)
2020-03-18		​ ​ ​ ​ ​	433(+28%)
Sources:

On 21 February, Israel confirmed the first case of COVID-19. A female Israeli citizen who had flown home from Japan after being quarantined on the Diamond Princess tested positive at Sheba Medical Center. Afterwards, Israel instituted a 14-day home isolation rule for anyone who had been in South Korea or Japan. Israel also barred the entry of non-residents or citizens of Israel who were in South Korea during the 14 days prior to their arrival in Israel. The same directive was applied to those arriving from Japan starting 23 February.

On 22 February, at 19:30 local time a flight from Seoul, South Korea landed at Ben Gurion International Airport. An ad hoc decision was made to allow only Israeli citizens to disembark, the plane and all other non Israeli citizens aboard returned to South Korea.. On 23 February, a second former Diamond Princess passenger tested positive and was admitted to a hospital for isolation. On 27 February, a man, who had returned from Italy on 23 February, tested positive and was admitted to Sheba Medical Center. On 28 February, his wife also tested positive.

On 1 March, a female soldier tested positive for the virus. She had been working at the toy store managed by the same man diagnosed on 27 February. On 2 March, the 2020 Israeli legislative election was held. Multiple secluded voting booths were established for 5,630 quarantined Israeli citizens who were eligible to vote. 4,073 citizens voted in the coronavirus-special voting booths. After the election, numerous Israelis were in quarantine. On 3 March, three more cases were confirmed. Two contracted the virus at the aforementioned toy store: a high school student who worked at the store, and a deputy principal of a school who shopped there. Following this, 1,150 students entered a two-week quarantine. One other person, who had returned from a trip to Italy on February 29, also tested positive for the virus.

On 7 March, while speaking at a press conference of the Yachad political party, Rabbi Meir Mazuz blamed the LGBT community for the coronavirus outbreak. The Anti-Defamation League urged him to apologize for "inciting against the LGBT community."

On 9 March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a mandatory quarantine for all people entering Israel, requiring all entrants to quarantine themselves for fourteen days upon entering the country. The order was effective immediately for all returning Israelis, and would apply beginning on 13 March for all foreign citizens, who must show that they have arranged for accommodation during their quarantine period. After it was discovered that an employee at the Israeli embassy in Greece had also contracted coronavirus and spread it to two family members, it was announced that the embassy was temporarily shutting down.

On 11 March, Israel began limiting gatherings to 100 people. The next day, Israel announced that all universities and schools would close until after the Passover (spring) break.

On 14 March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the public, announcing new regulations and stating the need to “adopt a new way of life”. He also said that digital monitoring measures would be used to track the movements of sick individuals. The Health Ministry posted new regulations, effective 15 March. These included banning gatherings of more than ten people and closure of all educational institutions, among them daycare centers, special education, youth movements and after-school programs. The list of venues required to close included malls, restaurants, hotel dining rooms, pubs, dance clubs, gyms, pools, beaches, water and amusement parks, zoos and petting zoos, bathhouses and ritual baths for men, beauty and massage salons, event and conference venues, public boats and cable cars, and heritage sites. Take-away restaurants, supermarkets and pharmacies were to remain open. The Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock closed to upend contamination from holy sites.

On 16 March, the Health Ministry approved a number of experimental treatments for patients suffering from COVID-19. Israel also imposed limitations on the public and private sectors. All non-critical government and local authority workers were placed on paid leave until the end of the Passover holiday. Private sector firms exceeding 10 employees were required to reduce staff present in the workplace by 70%. On 17 March, cyber-monitoring was imposed to track coronavirus cases.

Mobile phone tracking of infected individuals

On 15 March, the Israeli government proposed allowing the Shin Bet security service to track the prior movements of people diagnosed with coronavirus through their mobile phones. The security service would not require a court order for its surveillance. The stated goal of the measure was to identify other people with whom infected individuals came in contact for the two weeks prior to their diagnosis, and to dispatch text messages informing those people that they must enter self-quarantine. The security measure was to be in place for only 30 days after approval by a Knesset subcommittee, and all records were to be deleted after that point. Critics branded the proposal as an invasion of privacy and civil liberties.

On 17 March, at 1:30AM, the government approved the phone tracking program.

Infection among tourists

A number of tourists tested positive after visiting Israel, including members of a group from South Korea, two people from Romania, a group of Greek pilgrims, and a woman from the U.S. state of New York. 200 Israeli students were quarantined after being exposed to a group of religious tourists from South Korea. An additional 1,400 Israelis were quarantined after having traveled abroad.

Court freeze

On 15 March, Justice Minister Amir Ohana expanded his powers and announced that non-urgent court activity would be frozen. As a result, the corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was postponed from 17 March to May 24. The Movement for Quality Government urged the Attorney General to stay the new regulations.

In regard to neighbouring countries

Palestine

Further information: 2020 coronavirus pandemic in the Palestinian Territories

On 11 March, Israel delivered 20 tons of disinfectant to the West Bank.

On 17 March, the Defense Ministry tightened restrictions on Palestinians workers, limiting entry to those working in essential sectors, and requiring that they remain in Israel instead of commuting.

Egypt

Further information: 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Egypt

On 8 March, Israel closed down the Taba border crossing, fearing the spread of the coronavirus from Egypt. The entry ban applied to any non-Israeli person attempting entry from Egypt. Israeli nationals returning from Egypt were required for an immediate 14 days quarantine.

Jordan

Further information: 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Jordan

While Israel had not put restrictions on the Jordanian border crossings, Jordanian Kingdom decided to close the border with Israel as well as all other neighbouring countries beginning from March 11.

Statistics

New cases per day

See also

• 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak by country and territory
• 2020 in Israel
• Health in Israel

External links

• The Novel Coronavirus. Israel Ministry of Health