Joint List MK positive for coronavirus, Knesset shut down
Joint List MK Sami Abu Shehadeh tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday night, putting next week’s meetings of the Knesset in jeopardy.
All Knesset employees were notified not to come to work at the Knesset on Thursday unless it was absolutely necessary. MKs were notified that all Knesset meetings and discussions on Thursday were canceled.
Knesset director-general
Albert Sakharovich initiated a full epidemiological investigation and said directives would be issued upon its conclusion. He said a decision would be made in conjunction with the Health Ministry by Friday about how long the Knesset’s activities would be suspended.
Many MKs underwent testing for the virus on Thursday and tested negative, including his party chairman, Ayman Odeh. Abu Shehadeh is the second MK to contract Covid19, after United Torah Judaism leader Ya’acov Litzman.
Shehadeh entered isolation two days prior after his driver tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The rest of the Balad Party – a faction of the Joint List – was in his presence as well, and are all currently in quarantine.
The driver had additionally been at the Knesset the previous Tuesday. After being notified by Shehadeh, Knesset officer Yosef Griff sent a message to all MKs saying that if anyone had been in the driver’s presence, they must follow the Health Ministry guidelines and do what is necessary to stop the spread of the virus.
On his Twitter page, Shehadeh asked anyone who has recently been in close proximity to him to immediately go into isolation.
“I ask everyone to follow the instructions of the Health Ministry and that everyone internalize that the campaign isn’t over yet,” Shehadeh wrote. “The virus still exists between us and the return to normal is helping the virus spread in a large and fast way.
Shehadeh attended meetings of the Knesset plenum, committee’s and his party’s faction. He also visited a demonstration in Jaffa and the crowded mourning tent of Eyad al-Hallaq, a 32-year-old autistic Palestinian who was killed by Border Police who said they believed he was carrying a weapon.
“I met with thousands of people,” Shehadeh told KAN Radio. “I was at mourning consolations, family events and protests. At the Knesset, I was in committees, the plenum and the cafeteria.”
While he said he usually followed Health Ministry regulations, TV channels showed him meeting with Arabs in Jerusalem with no mask.
A large group of Knesset faction directors and parliamentary aides from every faction sent a letter to Sakharovich asking to be checked for the coronavirus following Shehadeh’s diagnosis.
“The sooner and the more comprehensive the testing, the sooner the work of the Knesset on behalf of the people could return,” the aides said in the letter.