Knesset Shuts Down After Lawmaker Contracts Coronavirus

All Knesset activities planned for Thursday were canceled after Joint List lawmaker Sami Abu Shehadeh announced early on Thursday that he had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. 

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LISTEN: High priests, holy smoke and cannabis in the TempleHaaretz

This comes as the country has seen an uptick in cases of the virus have risen in past days, sparking concern over a possible second wave to come.

Abu Shehadeh was tested for the virus after his driver contracted the disease. Following his own diagnosis, Abu Shehadeh and his staff entered isolation. In an interview Thursday morning on the Kan public broadcaster, the MK said that he has met thousands of people in the pasts two weeks.

Joint List MK Sami Abu Shehadeh speaks in the Knesset, Jerusalem, October 28, 2019Yitzhak Harari / Knesset spokesperson’s office

The Knesset announced on Thursday morning that all committee meetings scheduled for the day would be postponed and that workers were instructed not to come in unless it was essential to do so.