An outdoor shopping area is seen at the marina in Ashkelon, Israel, March 17, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen / File.

Israel was still in the coronavirus “danger zone,” the head of the country’s National Security Council told government ministers on Tuesday.

“The goals of our policy at the moment are fourfold — ensure the blocking of the epidemic; improve preparations for its continued spread; create exit conditions; and a slow, cautious and graduated return to a completely different routine from that which is familiar to us,” Meir Ben-Shabbat said.

“All of this will be after Passover and only after the completion of preparations,” he added. “We are still in the danger zone. A single day like Purim or one localized flare-up would suffice to torpedo all our efforts; therefore, the existing restrictions must continue and all instructions followed.”

Ben-Shabbat was joined at the briefing by Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman-Tov.

More than 5,000 Israelis have tested positive for coronavirus, and the country’s death toll from the disease reached 20 on Tuesday.

The Israeli government has imposed strict restrictions on activity and personal movement in an effort to thwart the spread of the coronavirus.