A total of 23 Bnei Brak residents are hospitalized in Israeli hospitals in serious condition, the Bnei Brak municipality stated on Monday. There are a total of 1,339 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the city.

The municipality has completed preparations for bi’ur chametz, which will take place on Wednesday morning. Special bags will be distributed to all the buildings in the city which will be transferred to hundreds of designated stations throughout the city and the chametz will be burned by the Rabbanim of the city as the shli’chem of the residents.

According to Maj.-Gen.(res.) Roni Noma, who is leading the effort to stem the coronavirus outbreak in Bnei Brak, the operation in Bnei Brak won’t be over any time soon and will take a few more weeks or even more.

“There are about 1,000 confirmed patients in the city but in my estimation, the numbers are much higher,” Noma said in an interview with Yisrael Hayom. “The number of people requiring quarantine is also much higher than what is reported since, among other things, the way patients are tracked in Israel isn’t relevant to a city like Bnei Brak where 50% of the residents don’t have smartphones.”

Noma added that the current policy of restricting movement within Bnei Brak will be maintained for weeks. “I don’t see that a return to the routine is possible after Pesach. It will take many weeks, maybe even more. Maybe in other places it will take less time but not in Bnei Brak.”

Noma explained that the routine can’t be restored until all the residents of the city are tested so they can know who is currently ill with the virus, who was infected but is now immune and can safely venture into the public. However, currently, the Israeli government doesn’t have enough supplies for the extensive testing required, especially for Bnei Brak, where the infection rate is about double the rate of other locations.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)