JERUSALEM – The Israeli government approved a tight quarantine of several areas of Jerusalem on Sunday, including the historic Old City, in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the city's most susceptible neighborhoods.
A ministerial committee gave approved the shutting down of movement in and out of several predominantly ultra-Orthodox areas of the city in order to contain the disease that has already resulted in over 100 deaths in Israel and almost 6,000 around the Middle East, the vast majority in Iran.
The measure, which takes effect at noon on Sunday but had been debated for days, faced resistance from ultra-Orthodox ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who rejected singling out their constituency.