Israelis on Sunday began emerging from a month-long nationwide coronavirus-related lockdown, the second of its kind this year following a six-week shutdown beginning at the end of March. According to new government guidelines, individuals can once again travel beyond 1 kilometer from their homes; visit the residences of others, with up to a maximum of 10 people congregating indoors; and gather in groups of 20 or less outdoors.

Additionally, preschools and daycares have reopened, along with businesses that do not receive customers. People can once again visit beaches and national parks, in addition to the Western Wall plaza and Temple Mount compound under certain conditions.

Ahead of the partial easing of restrictions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed what he deemed as the near-total closure’s success, highlighting that the daily number of infections had dropped from a peak of over 9,000 in late September to under 2,000 over the past few days.

 “We will exit [the lockdown] carefully this time, in line with the plan set out by the experts at the Health Ministry,” Netanyahu said during a televised briefing on Saturday night.

“If everyone follows the rules, I am sure that it will work,” he added.

While most of the country is set to return to a semblance of normalcy, the lockdown will continue through Wednesday in numerous “red zones,” mainly comprising ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

For his part, Israel’s coronavirus czar, Prof. Roni Gamzu, emphasized that the next stage of the months-long exit plan would only be implemented once the daily number of diagnoses fell below 1,000 and the reproduction rate (i.e. the number of other people a patient infects) dipped below 0.8.