Following reports of new coronavirus outbreaks in Israel over the past week and amid fears of the spread of the Indian virus variant, a Kan News report on Monday said that 168 coronavirus carriers entered Israel in the past month alone.

Around 100 of the travelers who tested positive for the coronavirus were vaccinated. The largest amount of coronavirus carriers, 31, traveled from Russia, followed by 24 carriers who traveled from the United Arab Emirates, 12 from the US, and 10 from France.

A Channel 12 News report said that 40% of coronavirus cases in Israel this month originated abroad, with 112 of the 264 coronavirus carriers identified since the beginning of June catching the virus while traveling.

After Prime Minister Naftali Bennett consulted with health officials on Sunday night, he ordered Israel Police to increase forces to enforce quarantine for travelers and instructed the Health Ministry to expand the coronavirus testing site at Ben-Gurion Airport.

The testing site at the airport has been inadequate to handle the recent high volume of travelers and on Friday, about 3,000 travelers went home without being tested. According to a Ynet report, there were also long lines at the Ben-Gurion testing site on Sunday and some passengers went home without being tested.

Israelis traveling abroad will be required to declare that they’re not traveling to high-risk countries including Argentina, Russia, India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil.

Coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash told Ynet on Monday that he doesn’t recommend that parents with unvaccinated children travel abroad this summer. “I think that this summer, with the morbidity and the variants, traveling abroad with unvaccinated children is irresponsible and shouldn’t be done…Travel abroad only if necessary.”

Ash was also asked about advancing the plan for bringing in tourists to the country. “Right now it’s happening. I don’t know if it will still be happening in another week and a half but right now it’s happening. We’ll need to reevaluate in the coming days in accordance with the morbidity here. We want to do it in a safe way, with only vaccinated [tourists] coming only from countries with trustworthy vaccines – and while doing all the tests before and after.”

Two of Israel’s Kupot Cholim, Maccabi and Clalit, said on Monday that there has been a sharp increase in vaccination appointments for children aged 12-15 in recent days.

There are currently 358 active coronavirus cases in Israel, with 24 patients in serious condition and 17 ventilated.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)