Israel has sealed off the Strictly Orthodox town of Bnei Brak to try contain the soaring number of coronavirus cases in the city.

Metal barriers and roadblocks were put in place at entrances and intersections after the cabinet approved emergency regulations that declare it a “restricted zone”.

Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, told Reuters: “Bnei Brak is on lockdown, as of this morning, and police will prevent any movements in or out of the city.

“People are only allowed in or out for medical reasons or medical support.”

• Strictly Orthodox Jews ask: ‘You expect us to stop living?

Officials estimate that more than a third of the town’s 200,000 residents have been infected — disproportionately higher than the share of infections in Israel as a whole.

Medical experts said this was because of the town’s population density: many large families, most of them Charedi, live in small flats in apartments in the town.

There are fears that Bnei Brak could soon account for as many as 30 per cent of all coronavirus cases in Israel.

34 people have died of the virus nationwide and there are nearly 7,000 cases in the country, as tight restrictions on movement remain in place.