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Israel to Begin Steps to Reopen Economy, Defense Minister Says

Israel to Begin Steps to Reopen Economy, Defense Minister Says

Israel will begin easing lockdown conditions in the coming days given the drop in new coronavirus infections, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Sunday.

Among the first steps the government will consider will be “a controlled, gradual, managed and supervised opening” of businesses that don’t see customers, Gantz said at a tour of an underground coronavirus ward at Rambam Hospital in Haifa. “We will take measured and controlled steps into the corona routine,” he said.

The rate of spread has slowed down the past week, as Israel enters its fourth week of lockdown. There have been more than 290,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel, including more than 1,900 fatalities.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.