Israel will commence a third domestic coronavirus lockdown despite its successful coronavirus vaccination program. The country’s authorities are attributing the lockdown to a faster-spreading strain of the Wuhan coronavirus. First emerging in the United Kingdom in December 2020, Israeli authorities confirmed four cases of the B117 strain days after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reported the more infectious variant.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers in a Jan. 5 cabinet meeting that the country is “in a state of emergency.” Ministers agreed to a two-week lockdown set to commence Jan. 8 during the same meeting. The lockdown mandate orders schools and non-essential businesses to close, and limits residents within a one-kilometer radius from their homes.
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