Israel announced Saturday, November 27 the ban from its territory to any foreign visitors for two weeks in order to contain the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus identified in South Africa.
In a statement, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the ban would extend for fourteen days, subject to government approval.
The ban will come into effect at midnight on the night of Sunday to Monday.
Israel has recorded one confirmed case of contamination with this new variant, potentially more contagious and deemed "worrying" by the World Health Organization, and seven suspected cases.
Authorities hope that in this fourteen-day interval, more information will be available on the effectiveness of anti-Covid vaccines against this variant classified as "worrying" by the World Health Organization.
Israelis returning from abroad subject to quarantine
Israelis returning to the Hebrew state, including those vaccinated, will have to undergo a quarantine, Naftali Bennett said.
The communications tracing technology of the Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, will be used to locate carriers of the new variant in order to reduce the risk of contagion, the prime minister added in his statement.
Israel is the first country to close its borders in this way to protect itself from the Omicron variant, which has caused concern since its discovery was announced this week and has already prompted many countries to suspend their links with South Africa and other southern African countries.
Omicron is considered potentially more contagious than its predecessors even though the scientific community stresses that it will take weeks to fully understand its mutations.
With Reuters
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