File photo
JERUSALEM, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Israel announced on Tuesday a partial lockdown on dozens of cities and communities to battle a surge in coronavirus infections.
The new restrictions, which have been approved by a special ministerial committee, will be imposed on 40 cities and neighborhoods across Israel, according to a joint statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office and the Health Ministry.
The seven-day lockdown will start on Tuesday evening, including a curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. and closure of all schools and kindergartens.
The communities involved are the mostly Arab and ultra-Orthodox ones hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, including nine large Jewish and Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem, the settlements of Beitar Illit and Emanuel, and the Arab cities of Umm al-Fahm and Nazareth in northern Israel.
The cities involved were announced "red" as part of a government's "traffic light" policy that has classified areas to red, green and orange according to morbidity level.
