Concerts return to Israel as infection rate remains high
The government has announced the immediate return of public cultural events and performing artists’ concerts as the infection rate in Israel remained one of the highest in the world.
Tens of thousands of spectators at Park HaYarkon in Tel Aviv, enjoy the performance of the American singer and actress, Jennifer Lopez, in her first concert in Israel. Tel Aviv, Aug 1, 2019. Photo by Kobi Richter/TPS
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Yisrael Katz, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and Culture and Sports Minister Yehiel Tropper met Sunday evening with representatives of the culture sector and decided that cultural events will be opened immediately in the format of ‘capsules’ in the open space.
Entry to cultural events will be permitted in the open air, with the venues being divided into capsules of 20 people each. Every performance venue will be approved on an individual basis by the Health Ministry.
A format for events in closed spaces will be formulated in the coming weeks.
Netanyahu stated that “this is important news and it will – of course – give encouragement not only to Israeli artists but also to the citizens of Israel.”
Tropper said he is “very pleased that the world of culture is returning to life.”
“The world of culture is important. It is also good news for the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people who are in desperate straits. It is also important news for millions of Israelis who, in difficult times, will be able to go back to consuming culture,” he added.
The Corona Cabinet on Sunday extended the validity of several existing restrictions the pertained mostly to social distancing.
In the meantime, the infection rate in Israel remained one of the highest in the world.
The Ministry of Health updated Monday that it registered 1,700 Corona patients in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of active patients in the country to 24,576.
395 patients are hospitalized in serious condition, of them 117 are on life support.
A total of 83,002 cases have been recorded on Israel since the outbreak, the majority of them in the past month.
57,514 of the patients have recovered while 600 have died.
The government aims to bring the number of daily infections to about 400 before September 1.
