The city of Bnei Brak, which has been suffering from an increasingly high rate of coronavirus infections began cracking down heavily on enforcement on health ministry regulations.

Municipal inspectors appeared en masse in shuls throughout the city on Wednesday morning to ensure that mispallelim were wearing maks and adhering to other regulations.

However, in most of the shuls, the inspectors found that the mispallim were already strictly adhering to health ministry regulations,  with almost no one sans mask.

An emergency meeting was held in the office Bnei Brak Mayor Avraham Rubinstein on Tuesday evening with the participation of the municipal emergency response team, during which a decision was made to dramatically increase the enforcement of health regulations.

The increased enforcement began already on Tuesday evening throughout the city including wedding halls, shuls and the like. Anyone found without a mask was issued a fine, which the government recently increased from NIS 200 to NIS 500 ($145).

Any public institution, including wedding halls, shuls and educational institutions that are issued five fines for violating health directives will be closed by administrative order for 48 hours. There will be a special focus on weddings, during which all guests must wear masks and maintain social distancing.

The municipal inspectors will also carry out surveillance of confirmed coronavirus patients and those who are required to be in quarantine due to exposure to confirmed coronavirus patients to ensure they are adhering to regulations.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)