Israel is set to consider adding a slew of countries including the United States to its so-called red list of high-risk destinations Israelis are banned from flying to, as health authorities continue to monitor the effects of the omicron variant.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett supports expanding restrictions on international travel and on commerce in hopes of increasing vaccination rates. At this stage, he does not intend to fully shut down international travel.
The cabinet will be discussing the possibility of adding the U.S. Canada, Portugal, Turkey, Germany, Hungary, Morocco and Belgium to the list when it convenes on Sunday.
Earlier this week, the Health Ministry recommended adding Ireland, Norway, Spain, Finland, Sweden, France and the United Arab Emirates to the list, which includes the vast majority of countries in Africa.
Assessments presented to Bennett on Saturday predicted that the number of omicron cases in Israel will reach 400-600 over the next week, in light of the number of cases that cannot be traced back to people who traveled abroad. The prime minister has requested that officials expand the public information campaign promoting vaccines, with a particular emphasis on the 5-11 age group.
Bennett has been saying over the past few days that the Health Ministry has so far failed to convince people who received their second shot over six months ago to get a booster shot, and has therefore chosen to shift the government’s main focus from public awareness campaigns to a series of restrictions on the unvaccinated in the hopes of getting them to begin getting their shots.
Israel’s coronavirus R number, reflecting how many people a carrier will infect, rose to 1.11 on Saturday, indicating that the virus is spreading. The number stood at 1.07 on Friday, and at 1.03 on Thursday.
The number of confirmed omicron cases has risen to 134, after 45 new cases of the variant were diagnosed on Friday. Forty-two of these cases are in the unvaccinated. Authorities suspect that 307 other people, whose tests have yet to be processed, have also been infected with the variant.
According to Health Ministry figures, 873 people were diagnosed with the coronavirus on Friday, and there are 81 people whose condition is serious enough for hospitalization, including 41 who are on ventilators.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Saturday that the omicron variant had been detected in 89 countries, and COVID-19 cases involving the variant have been doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in places with community transmission and not just infections acquired abroad. Omicron’s “substantial growth advantage” over the delta variant means it is likely to soon overtake delta as the dominant form of the virus in countries where the new variant is spreading locally, the UN health agency said.
The WHO noted that omicron is spreading rapidly even in countries with high vaccination rates or where a significant proportion of the population has recovered from COVID-19.
It remains unclear if the rapid growth of omicron cases is because the variant evades existing immunity, is inherently more transmissible than previous variants, or a combination of both, the WHO said. Other major questions about omicron remain unanswered, including how effective each of the existing COVID-19 vaccines are against it. Conclusive data also does not exist yet on how ill omicron makes COVID-19 patients, the health agency said.
According to the Health Ministry, vaccinated or recovered Israelis who visited a red country must agree to government tracking in order to be allowed to enter home isolation. They must undergo a PCR swab test upon entry and may go home for a seven-day quarantine followed by a negative PCR test. Travelers who do not agree to be tracked are taken to an isolation hotel for the isolation period.
Travelers not considered fully vaccinated must isolate in a quarantine hotel until a PCR test at the airport comes back negative, after which they will be allowed to complete their quarantine at home, if they live alone.
Israel is also set to impose restrictions on malls and indoor shopping, after nixing at the last minute a plan to require shoppers to present proof of vaccination. The new regulations, announced Friday and backed by Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, would limit the number of people allowed at indoor shopping centers, but not require them to be vaccinated. The cabinet is expected to vote on the new regulations on Sunday. If approved, they would go into effect immediately.
Under these proposed regulations, malls will only be allowed to admit one customer per 15 square meters (160 square feet). They would also require malls to open for longer hours to account for the limited number of customers at a time, and would designate officials to monitor and enforce mask-wearing.
