Israel imposing third national COVID-19 lockdown

Israel will impose a third national lockdown to fight surging COVID-19 infections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, as the country pursues a vaccination campaign. With a population of nine million, Israel has so far reported more than 385,000 cases of COVID-19 and 3,150 deaths. The number of daily infections approached 4,000 on Wednesday, rising from around 1,000 at the end of a month-long lockdown imposed in September that followed one that ran from late March to early May.