Israel closes shops, restaurants and beaches in second Covid wave

Jerusalem, Jul 17 (efe-epa).- The Israeli government announced on Friday that businesses will close in reimposed Covid-19 restrictions after a surge in fresh infections.

Restaurants will close from Tuesday and all non-essential businesses are not allowed to open on weekends, which are Friday and Saturday in the country.

Only essential stores such as supermarkets, pharmacies, opticians and telecommunications businesses will be able to open on weekends.

There will be no restrictions on the movement of people beyond closures already established in neighborhoods most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

All other businesses and spaces will close, including open-air markets, shopping malls, beauty salons, hairdressers, bookstores, museums, zoos, swimming pools and tourist attractions.

The country’s beaches will also be closed on weekends but the measure will not apply until next week.

Restaurants will also not be able to open to customers and can only provide takeaway meals.

The closures were initially scheduled to start on Friday afternoon but were delayed after complaints from eateries that they were not notified in advance.

Restaurateurs said they would have suffered serious losses on perishable food purchased for the weekend and had threatened to keep the premises open.

The government backed down and allowed them to remain open until Tuesday.