The work follows recommendations made over the past several months by the Israel Antiquities Authority and safety engineers to, among other goals, prevent falling stones, the foundation says.
The work was completed during the ongoing coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...lockdown to cause the least disturbances to prayer, it says.