Israeli Knesset suspends sessions after it's member got coronavirus infection

The Israeli Knesset canceled all the sessions that were scheduled today, Thursday, after confirming that a member of the Knesset from the joint list, Sami Abu Shehadeh, was infected with the novel coronavirus, according to the Knesset Secretariat.

It was also decided to conduct a coronavirus examination for all members of the joint list, in addition to other members from other parties, based on the decision of the 120-seat Knesset security officer, who is in charge of medical research in the building, according to a Sky News correspondent in Jerusalem.

The Knesset stated that it asked non-essential employees to stay in their homes and decided to postpone all the meetings of the committees today, "until the investigation of the repercussions" of MP Sami Abu Shehadeh had been infected with the coronavirus.

Abu Shehadeh said on his Facebook page, "I received a short time ago the result of the corona examination that I conducted today. The result of the examination is positive ... I go to everyone who was close to him in the last two weeks to enter the quarantine and conduct the examination in the near future ... The corona is still between us and it is spreading at a pace Quick in the recent period due to the lack of full compliance with the instructions."

Besides, some schools have also been decided to close their doors again, amid fears of an outbreak again, and Israeli media reported, on Thursday, that as many as 42 schools were closed due to new cases.

During the past weeks, Israel eased restrictions imposed in March to confront the Covid-19 epidemic after seeing a decline in new cases, but officials warn that public complacency may lead to a return of casualties, according to Reuters.

Israeli schools were reopened last month, but fears have increased among children, despite preventive measures.

"Any educational institution showing the disease will be closed," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that school personnel will continue to search for ways to protect students and maintain a distance between them.