According to current Health Ministry data, the four communities with the highest percentage of confirmed coronavirus cases are Chareidi, prompting the Finance Ministry’s Director-General Shai Babad to suggest locking down those communities at a government meeting on Sunday morning. Some reports said that the preparations have already been made and the authorities are just waiting for the final approval.

The four communities are Telzstone, Kfar Chabad, Bnei Brak and Beitar. Tel Aviv is in fifth place and another two Chareidi cities are in sixth and seventh place, Modiin Ilit and Beit Shemesh. It should be noted that out of the four top cities, a lockdown is mostly applicable to Bnei Brak since it borders on the populous Gush Dan area, right next to Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv. The other cities are enclosed communities.

Telzstone, which suffered an outbreak of the coronavirus before Purim, has the highest rate, with 53 cases per 10,000 residents. However, it should be noted that Telzstone seems to have turned the tide and there have been no new cases in four days, bl’ah. The head of the Telzstone council, Rav Yitzchak Ravitz, attributes the decline to the fact that the residents scrupulously adhered to the Health Ministry’s and the local council’s directives.

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Rav Ravitz added that he made unpopular decisions, including closing the only makolet in Telzstone, allowing the residents to receive groceries only through deliveries and closing the public parks even before the Health Ministry required it. However, his decisions and the residents’ compliance with the regulations had a successful outcome and he said he even has mayors from all over Israel calling him for advice.

The community with the second-highest percentage of coronavirus cases is Kfar Chabad, which has 38 cases per 10,000 residents. There were seven new confirmed cases just over the weekend. Bnei Brak is in third place with 13 cases per 10,000 residents and Beitar Illit is in fourth place with 4 cases per 10,000 residents.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)