Jerusalem, Mar 23 (IANS): Israel will extend winter time to encourage people to stay indoors amidst the novel coronavirus outbreak, the government said.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said in a statement on Sunday that the switch from winter time to daylight saving time will be delayed by at least a month, reports Xinhua news agency.
Deri said he was working closely with the Justice Ministry to issue emergency regulations to postpone the start of the daylight saving time.
The announcement came after Israeli Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the move, which still needs to get a final approval from the government.
The switch to daylight saving time in Israel was originally planned to start overnight between Thursday and Friday this week.
The Health Ministry said on Sunday that there were 1,071 coronavirus cases in the country.