Mar 14, 2020 - Health

Israel and France to close restaurants and cafes

Orion Rummler

In this image, two people sit at a table in a restaurant — A restaurant in Le Touquet, France on March 14. Photo: Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

France and Israel moved on Saturday to close restaurants, cafes, movie theaters and clubs to promote social distancing amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Where it stands: COVID-19 cases in France have jumped within the last 72 hours from 3,672 as dictated by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center to roughly 4,500 cases. Deaths in the country have increased from 79 to 91 in that time frame. There are 193 cases in Israel, which has not recorded any deaths as of Saturday.

Zoom out: Italy — which is currently facing one of the largest outbreaks in the world — has extended internal travel restrictions to the entire country until April 3 and shuttered all retailers and businesses other than pharmacies and grocers that sell "essential items."

Details: Closures in France will be enforced as of midnight on Saturday, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said in a press conference.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Health Ministry's Sigal Sadetsky said that cultural and entertainment sectors in the country will be closed on Sunday in a press conference.

Go deeper: Coronavirus updates

Editor's note: This article has been updated with the latest data from Johns Hopkins.

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Israel and France to close restaurants and cafes

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