A massive vaccination campaign that is bearing fruit.

Three weeks after the release of a third strict confinement, a series of deconfinement measures entered into force in Israel, Sunday March 7, allowing the reopening of bars, restaurants as well as the relaxation of health restrictions in places of worship. or even during sporting gatherings. 

"Almost normal return to normal", "Open", "Return to normal, with caution", headlined the main national dailies, respectively Yedioth Aharonot, the best-selling title in the country, Maariv and the free Israel Hayom. 

"It's a great day, we open the restaurants with the green passport, we return to life," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seated on the terrace Sunday morning on a sunny morning, in a Jerusalem cafe with the Israeli Mayor of the Holy City, Moshe Lion. 

Again on Saturday, the Israelis had to take their coffee to go but since Sunday, they can sit on the terrace.

And bars and restaurants can now reopen for holders of the "green passport", a permit granted to people who have received two doses of the vaccine or recovered from Covid-19.   

>> Read also: Covid -19 in Israel: a flash vaccination campaign with promising effects

This reopening is also timely for Benjamin Netanyahu, who fully plays the card of the "vaccine nation" ("the country of the vaccine"), a return to normal favored by intensive vaccination to try to win the legislative elections of March 23, the fourth in less than two years. 

The latest polls currently credit his party, the Likud (right), with first place, but without enough support, at present, to form a government with its allies.  

More than half of the 9.3 million Israelis have received a first dose of the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine, to which Israel has privileged access under an agreement to share biomedical data on the effects of vaccination.

And about 40% of Israelis received the second dose of the vaccine.     

Reopening with limited attendance  

According to the new measures to ease the restrictions that came into force on Sunday morning, schoolchildren will be able to resume their studies in person in areas of the country where the contamination rate remains low.  

The restrictions for places of worship are also relaxed: 50 people outdoors and 20 indoors.

Also reopening of reception and dining rooms in hotels, which will be able to accommodate up to 50% of their capacity, with a maximum of 300 people.  

Cultural and sporting events and conferences can resume with a maximum of 500 people inside and 750 outside, on presentation of the "green passport".  

Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, closed since the end of January except for cargo flights and special flights allowing a maximum of 200 people to return to the country per day, has seen its reception capacity increase to 1,000 travelers per day. day from New York, Frankfurt, Paris, London, Kiev, Toronto and Hong Kong.

And that number is expected to rise to 3,000 again by midweek. 

The vaccination campaign, which began on December 19, brought down the number of contaminations which went from a peak of 10,000 per day in mid-January to around 3,600 per day last week with elsewhere a decrease in positivity rates on tests.    

Despite this deconfinement, public health officials remain cautious, however, especially as the number of people getting vaccinated begins to level off and variants of the virus continue to circulate.   

"If we do not act responsibly, if we do not follow the guidelines, the possibility of a fourth lockdown before the elections exists," Nachman Ash, the coordinator of the fight against the coronavirus, warned this weekend. .

With AFP

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