Officers in Jerusalem
Officers in JerusalemYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

The ministerial committee on Thursday evening approved a move to declare several neighborhoods in Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Lod, Kiryat Malachi, and Ramla as "restricted areas".

The lockdown will take effect on Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. and will be in effect for seven days, ending next Friday at 8:00 a.m.

Entry and exit to the restricted areas will be limited, as well as traffic and business activity within the restricted area itself.

In addition, the Director General of the Ministry of Health will soon sign an order restricting the activities of educational institutions starting at the age of 10 in Modi'in Illit, in Beit Shemesh, and in three neighborhoods in Ashdod.

Data released on Thursday by the Ministry of Health show that since midnight, 922 new cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed in Israel. The death toll rose to 348.

The number of seriously ill patients is 122, and the number of cases on respirators is 39. There are 16,025 active cases in Israel. To date, 18,452 Israelis have recovered.