Politicians, Health Experts Split Over Lockdown Timeline

Israel’s national lockdown will wind down beginning next week, government officials announced Monday, as the number of new coronavirus cases, deaths and patients in serious condition continued their encouraging decline. While health experts warned that the significant drop in the number of tests administered was a real cause for concern and that reopening should be done judiciously, politicians promised the public that kindergartens and some schools would open as early as Sunday. Nearly 2,000 Israelis have died from the coronavirus since the pandemic’s outbreak, 250 in the past week alone. There are currently 840 people in serious condition. On Sunday, a concerning uptick was registered in the percentage of positive tests, with close to 8% of all tests returning positive.