Israel has reportedly delayed its reopening to tourists until at least through August 1, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
Prior to the spread of the Delta variant in Israel and the increasing number of coronavirus cases in recent days, a plan was approved to allow vaccinated tourists into Israel beginning on July 1.
But that plan has apparently now been scrapped in light of the recent outbreaks.
Furthermore, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said on Wednesday that if coronavirus cases continue to rapidly increase, all flights to Israel will be banned. “If there is a significant increase in coronavirus cases, we’ll simply close the airport,” she said. “But the situation today is different than it was and we’re trying to keep the airport open. But if cases rise, then the flights will stop.”
Shaked toured Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday to assess the situation regarding coronavirus restrictions, including Terminal 1, where all flights from high-risk countries are now landing to separate the passengers from those arriving from low-risk countries.
Of course, Shaked’s plan to stop flights would have to be approved by the coronavirus cabinet. Earlier this week, Shaked said that she plans on proposing an amendment to the coronavirus law that will sanction quarantine violators with a one-year ban on travel outside Israel. Subsequent reports indicated that most senior government officials felt that the measure is too extreme.
Israel has confirmed over 300 daily cases for the past several cases, the highest number of cases in months, and Health Ministry officials expect the number of cases to increase to 500-600 per day by next week.
Most of the cases have been diagnosed in young teens. According to Health Ministry data, almost 1,000 students and teachers in Israel’s schools have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and thousands are in quarantine.
Health officials are reportedly considering reinstating the “Green Pass” system, allowing only vaccinated Israelis to enter certain events and venues such as restaurants. The plan was lifted on June 1 amid a record low number of virus cases.
Fortunately, despite the spike in cases, Israel’s hospitalization rate has remained low.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
Well, for those planning to visit EY this summer, hope you had good travel insurance. We rescheduled for next February but who knows anymore.
Why prevent and or cure covid with Dr. Zelenko’s protocol or ivormectin when you can destroy people’s livelihoods by not letting tourists in?
By the way, is anyone even sick, or are these cases just people who were required to have swabs put up their noses for a test that gives false results 99% of the time?