Coronavirus Israel Live: Tel Aviv Airport Shut; Pandemic Czar Says Third Lockdown Might No Be the Last

After weeks of a steady rise in coronavirus cases, infection rates in Israel are showing positive signs amid a third national lockdown, while an ambitious vaccination campaign is underway.

Meanwhile, Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip await vaccines, which could take at least a few more months to get to a big enough part of society. Infection rates in both territories, however, are being kept relatively low.

Israel currently has 70,859 active cases; 4,437 people have died. In the West Bank, there are 4,396 active cases and 1,459 deaths, and in Gaza 4,948 active cases and 508 deaths.

LIVE UPDATES

4:00 P.M. Moderna says COVID-19 vaccine expected to be protective against new mutations

Moderna Inc said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine produced virus-neutralizing antibodies against new mutations of COVID-19 found in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

A two-dose regimen of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be protective against emerging strains detected to date, the company said. (Reuters)

• A time of reckoning for Israel's Haredi public opinion leaders: ‘We are guilty’
• The COVID sacrifice: The ‘new Jewish martyrs’ dying to defend Israel’s Haredi autonomy
• Netanyahu's optimism about COVID vaccines gives way to concern

3:50 P.M. Israel's current lockdown might not be its last, says coronavirus czar, citing high burden on hospitals

The current lockdown might not be Israel's last, due to the spread of COVID-19 mutations, coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash said in a radio interview on Monday.

At the same time, Ash said that the Health Ministry has formulated a two-stage exit lockdown plan and although the timing has not yet been determined, three versions of the ministry's plan – one longer and two shorter – will be submitted to the government. 

In the first stage, the economy and schools would reopen, although as Ash noted, the first stage may be more limited in scope, depending on infection and hospitalization rates. In the second, those who have been inoculated will be allowed to engage in various activities, subject to the terms of the 'green passport.'

"So long as the burden on the hospitals remains high, we won't be able to exit the lockdown without fear," said Ash. According to him, the burden on hospitals, due to the rise in the number of patients in serious condition, has made exiting lockdown complex. The reality created by the spread of the mutations of the virus, and especially the British one, "requires us to proceed cautiously from this lockdown," he said. (Ido Efrati)

11:37 A.M. Haredi schools, institutions remain open

Dozens of Haredi educational institutions were fully operational on Monday in ultra-Orthodox cities, despite the lockdown regulations.

Both boys’ and girls’ institutions belonging to radical Haredi sects have remained open since the lockdown began, as well as those belonging to certain Hasidic sects and the Lithuanian sect, upon orders from the latter’s Chief Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky.

Some of the institutions have opened in a reduced format, and some just for grades seven and eight. Lithuanian girls’ institutions remain closed, as do the majority of schools belonging to the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox community.

Over the past few days, police forces have been active in Haredi neighborhoods with a large radical ultra-Orthodox presence in Beit Shemesh, Ashdod and Jerusalem, but most of the institutions in these areas remain open. (Aaron Rabinowitz)

11:00 A.M. Israel will need to close skies for weeks, not days, Health Ministry official says

Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the Health Ministry’s head of public services, said Monday morning that in order to curb the spread of new coronavirus variants in the country, Israel will have to ban incoming and outgoing flights for weeks, rather than the six days that the cabinet approved Sunday.

In a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting, Alroy-Preis said that closing the skies temporarily will not suffice, and that Israel will need much more time to inoculate enough people against the coronavirus. The committee convened in order to approve the cabinet’s order to stop incoming and outgoing flights for six days. (Jonathan Lis)

7:41 A.M. Over one million people have received second vaccine dose, health minister says

"Israel keeps leading the world," Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Twitter on Monday morning, with the number of doses given reaching 3.7 million. 

According to official figures quoted by Edelstein, 2.590 million Israeli residents have now been vaccinated, of whom more than a million also received a second dose.

Despite the progress of the vaccination campaign, the mortality rate from coronavirus in January remains the highest since the outbreak of the pandemic. According Health Ministry data published this morning, there have been more a thousand deaths in Israel since the beginning of the month, with the total death toll reaching 4,419. The number of patients currently hospitalized in critical condition is 1,140, of which 358 are on ventilators. (Haaretz)

6:00 A.M. Effects of new variants on children and expecting mothers still unclear, doctors say

There is a renewed focus on how children and pregnant women, groups that until recently were considered relatively safe from severe forms of the coronavirus, fare with the disease. That assumption has changed, leaving physicians with a wealth of theories but not enough clear answers.

The number of children and pregnant women with severe COVID-19 is still low, albeit higher than in the first months of the pandemic. But add to this the need to protect these groups and the possibility (not yet supported by data) that mutations could make the virus more dangerous to children, and you get a disturbing picture, particularly in light of the fact that the vaccines have not been approved for children under the age of 16. (Ido Efrati)

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SUNDAY

10:51 P.M. Haredi Knesset members slam police response to Bnei Brak riots, urge police to leave city

Knesset members from the Haredi parties held an emergency meeting in the Bnei Brak municipality on Sunday night, after riots broke out in the ultra-Orthodox city in protest of police enforcement of coronavirus regulations on Thursday and Sunday evenings.

During the meeting, they roundly criticized the police for their actions during the riots, including one case in which an officer, surrounded by protesters pelting them with stones, fired his gun into the air because he feared for his life.

Mayor Abraham Rubinstein said that “The Bnei Brak Municipality, in all its parts and partners, condemns and decries the acts of violence against Israel’s regime equivocally and in every forum. Every act of violence against a person, property, and against every figure is an unforgivable crime that we do not agree with in any form.” He said that the events will be handled “educationally and rabinically,” and that community leaders are responsible.

He also called on the police to leave the city, and to “let the city carry on its way of life as usual, as it has for decades.”

Yaakov Litzman, chairman of the United Torah Judaism list, said that people violate coronavirus guidelines in Tel Aviv and at protests against the prime minister as well. He condemned the police and called for an independent inquiry into the report.

The chairman of the Knesset finance committee, UTJ MK Moshe Gafni, also harshly condemned the police’s actions. (Aaron Rabinowitz)

7:39 P.M. Health Ministry identifies four cases of Los Angeles COVID strain

The Health Ministry said on Sunday four cases of a new COVID-19 variant originating from Los Angeles, California had been detected in Israel. (Haaretz)

5:20 P.M. Police arrest four in Bnei Brak in attack on cops

Police arrested four in Bnei Brak Sunday afternoon on suspicion of attacking police officers in an incident in the ultra-Orthodox city on Thursday night.

The police said they opened an investigation after receiving a report that three officers were targeted in a “severe attack” while carrying out their duties.

According to the police statement, a number of suspects had gathered around a vehicle in which the on-duty officers were seated, and threw stones and planks at them, causing injury.

After the four suspects were identified by a police investigation, which is still ongoing, they were arrested and brought in for questioning.  

Tensions have run high between members of the ultra-Orthodox community and police during the coronavirus lockdown, as police attempt to rein in illegal gatherings and enforce the regulations. Many Haredi educational institutions have reopened despite the ongoing lockdown. 

4:30 P.M. Israel halts inbound and outbound flights to curb spread of new COVID variants

The cabinet approved Sunday the halting of inbound and outbound flights, beginning at midnight between Monday and Tuesday and lasting until January 31, in an attempt to slow the spread of novel coronavirus variants.

According to the proposal, planes of foreign airlines will not be allowed to land in Israel beginning at midnight between Monday and Tuesday until January 31, when Israel's coronavirus lockdown is meant to end. In addition, exiting the country will be limited to exceptional circumstances. (Judy Maltz)

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1:15 P.M. Israel record highest monthly COVID deaths in January 

The mortality rate in January was the highest since the outbreak of the pandemic, new data from Israel's Health Ministry reveals.

Since the start of the month, 1,036 Israelis died from the coronavirus crisis. January has the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus since October 2020, when 970 died. Since the start of the pandemic, 4,631 Israelis have died from coronavirus. (Ido Efrati) 

11:04 A.M. Four cops wounded as clashes erupt between police and ultra-Orthodox

Four cops were wounded in clashes between ultra-Orthodox residents and police in the port city of Ashdod. Police confirmed the reports of the injured officers, adding that four were arrested.

Police forces arrived at the Grodno Hasidic institution in the city to prevent studies from taking place in breach of coronavirus regulations. “Throughout last week, police had enforced the regulations at the site, whose heads had refused to stop its activities. A crowd gathered at the site and issued calls against the police, and attempts were made by some of the crowd to force their way into the institution,” the police said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox residents also clashed with police in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea She’arim, throwing stones, eggs and garbage at them.

The police arrived at the scene to disperse a gathering held in violation against coronavirus regulations at a synagogue belonging to the Satmar Hasidic sect.

The police said that “Dozens of people gathered at the site, and hundreds more joined following police activity there.” The police are using water cannons to disperse the crowd and so far one arrest has been made.

Ultra-Orthodox institutions also opened Sunday in the ultra-orthodox Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak.

On Saturday night, the leader of the Viznitz Hasidic sect ordered all of its institutions to open on Sunday, in breach of the coronavirus regulations. Viznitz is the third largest Hasidic community in Israel, and thousands of children are enrolled in its schools. (Aaron Rabinowitz, Bar Peleg and Almog Ben Zikri)

SATURDAY

10:45 P.M. Netanyahu to propose stopping all flights to and from Israel to slow spread of virus variants

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he would bring forth a proposal Sunday to stop all flights in and out of Israel for two weeks to slow the spread of new variants of the coronavirus.

In debates over the weekend, Netanyahu and senior officials in the Health Ministry, Transportation Ministry and National Security Council had agreed upon several restrictions which would be brought to the government for approval.

These restrictions include: Banning entrance or exit of Israeli and foreign travellers, limiting operations at Ben Gurion International airport, and forming a set of regulations for special humanitarian circumstances.

The restrictions would be in place for 14 days and will take effect following the approval of the government. (Judy Maltz)

9:07 P.M. Israel to consider limiting operations at Ben-Gurion International Airport

Officials are set to discuss restricting operations at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday in light of the pandemic. The government  approved regulations last week requiring all arrivals to present a negative coronavirus test conducted no more than 72 hours prior to landing.

Restrictions barring Israelis from leaving the country have not been approved because of legal issues.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with top officials in the National Security Council, Health Ministry and Transportation Ministry on Sunday to discuss additional limitations on travel into and out of the country.

Last week, Haaretz reported that the government was considering implementing strict limitations on international travel. Among the options being weighed are restrictions that would only allow Israelis to leave the country for diplomatic or business trips, humanitarian needs and extraordinary cases to be reviewed by an exemptions committee. Officials have also discussed putting a mechanism in place to compensate travelers who were kept from flying. (Judy Maltz)

8:15 P.M. Rebbe of Vizhnitz Hasidic community orders reopening of schools

The rebbe of the Vizhnitz Hasidic community called on Saturday for Hasidic schools to be reopened despite the national coronavirus lockdown, giving instructions to open all religious elementary schools in the community and to publish these instructions in the community’s official newspaper. The rebbe told followers that they should not clash with police arriving to enforce the lockdown, and that they should refer officers to him. As the leader of the third-largest Hasidic community in the country, the rebbe oversees the education of thousands. (Aaron Rabinowitz)

7:10 P.M. British variant found in six out of seven samples taken from seriously ill pregnant women

Israel’s Health Ministry said Saturday that the British variant of the coronavirus is liable to cause serious illness in pregnant women.

The Health Ministry said that in light of the sharp increase in serious coronavirus cases amongst pregnant women, it had taken samples for the purpose of genetic sequencing. Ten samples were taken from pregnant women who are in serious condition with the coronavirus.

Of the seven samples that have been sequenced so far, six have been identified as the British variant. (Haaretz)

7:00 P.M. Leading rabbi approves reopening ultra-Orthodox schools despite lockdown

The leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, has approved the reopening of religious elementary schools, beginning Sunday despite a spike in COVID-19 infections and nationwide lockdown.

In recent days, sources close to Kanievsky told the Health Ministry that if a plan for opening the Talmud Torah schools is not agreed upon, the rabbi would approve their reopening.

In recent days, Israel Police have entered areas where extremist Haredi sect members live, after months of steering clear, even as many have openly defied lockdown restrictions to hold religious gatherings, weddings and funerals, as well as opening schools. (Aaron Rabinowitz)

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6:30 P.M. Health clinics start vaccinating 11th and 12th graders

Israel's health clinics said on Saturday that it began vaccinating teenagers born in 2003 and 2004, or 11th and 12th graders, over the weekend.

A source from Israel's Vaccine Priorities Board told Haaretz that it's important to vaccinate 16 to 18 year olds to ensure examns can be held but also to to "give them back their lives" as much as possible. (Ido Efrati)

5:30 P.M. Wolfson hospital won’t take any new COVID patients due to overflow

Wolfson Medical Center in Holon said on Friday that it won’t admit any new COVID-19 patients. This comes as the hospital has seen a sharp increase in patients, with 75 people currently hospitalized, of whom 40 are in serious condition.

A sharp increase in younger patients has also been detected with 10 people under the age of 45 currently hospitalized. (Haaretz)

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