Israel delays plans for overnight curfews by a day

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he has delayed plans to impose overnight curfews in 40 cities and towns hit hard by the coronavirus. Netanyahu announced the curfew plan on Sunday but decided against full lockdowns after an uproar by politically powerful religious leaders. In a news conference, Netanyahu said the curfews will now go into effect from Tuesday evening.

The government has been forced to take action after failing to contain an outbreak that has claimed more than 1,000 lives and remains at record levels of new infections. The outbreak has raised fears of a nationwide lockdown during the upcoming Jewish New Year. Israel has recorded nearly 132,000 cases of the virus, and recently has been reporting some 3,000 new cases each day. The country has reported more than 1,000 deaths.