Israel announces "traffic light" plan to contain COVID-19 spread

HEALTH 

Israel's Corona Cabinet has approved a "traffic light" plan to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Israel's Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Health said in a joint statement released Sunday night.

According to the statement, coronavirus restrictions will be set according to local authorities' classification of four levels: red, orange, yellow and green, depending on the extent of morbidity.

Each city or town will receive a grade between 0 and 10 according to the weekly morbidity rate.

An authority whose average grade is above 7.5, with the highest morbidity, will be defined as a red area.

One graded between 6 and 7.5 will be defined as an orange area, one with an average grade between 4.5 and 6 will be a yellow, and a local authority with an average grade lower than 4.5 will be defined as a green area.

Accordingly, in red areas, for example, gatherings will be limited to 20 people outdoors and 10 people indoors, while in green areas gatherings of up to 250 people outside and 100 people indoors will be allowed.

The program will take effect only on Sept. 6.