Israelis will not be allowed to travel to UK and Denmark due to fear of Omicron

A senior health official said on Sunday that Israelis would not be allowed to travel to the UK and Denmark as the government tightens travel restrictions and quarantine requirements over fears of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Dr Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of public health services at the health ministry, said the countries would be added to the list of “red” nations within the next 72 hours.

“These are three countries in which it is clear that the spread of Omicron in the community is very important,” she said during a press briefing organized by the Ministry of Health.

Belgium was also initially declared ‘red’ on Sunday afternoon, but the ministry later withdrew that designation, saying the infection rate there did not currently justify a travel ban.

Health Ministry Nitzan Horowitz said more countries would be classified as “red” in the coming days, but stressed that the government is currently not planning to ban international travel altogether.

He also urged the Israelis to refrain from all non-essential travel abroad.

“Those planning to travel overseas at this time should be aware that upon their return they will likely be placed in full quarantine as the country will be declared a red country,” Nachman Ash, director general of the ministry, said at the meeting. press conference. Report.

Dr Sharon Alroy-Preis, Head of Public Health Services at the Ministry of Health, speaks at a press conference in Jerusalem on December 12, 2021. To his right are Minister of Health Nitzan Horowitz and the Director General of the Department of Health Nachman Ash. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)

The announcement of the new “red” countries came a day after coalition party leaders agreed to update the list of banned countries daily, a move that could reduce overseas flights by making it difficult to planning trips in advance.

Under new quarantine rules approved by a Knesset committee on Sunday, Israelis from “red” countries must self-isolate at a state-run facility for at least 10 days. However, they can be released home to complete their quarantine if they are negative for Omicron.

Horowitz touted Omicron’s response from the government at the press conference, saying Israel was “in a good position” compared to other countries. He credited the measures imposed by the government for preventing the country from being hit as hard as the others.

“There is a feeling among the public that everything is fine, but we have to act now,” he said.

“We know for sure that Omicron is much more contagious, is spreading at a very high rate, and that anyone who is vaccinated with a booster is better protected against serious illness,” Horowitz added.

The health minister said the unvaccinated “put themselves and those around them at risk” and urged parents with children aged 5 to 11 to get them vaccinated.

Ash also appealed for the Israelis to get vaccinated, warning of the potential for serious morbidity from Omicron.

“Omicron’s rate of infection and its ability to spread with the population will infect many people and if there is a large population that is not vaccinated, there will be a lot of seriously ill people.” , did he declare.

An Israeli child receives a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a Clalit vaccination center in Jerusalem on December 12, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)

According to Alroy-Preis, Omicron is more contagious than previous variants and is better able to evade vaccines. However, she also noted that it caused less death and severe morbidity than previous COVID-19 outbreaks.

Its assessment mirrored that of the World Health Organization, which said on Sunday that Omicron spreads faster than the Delta variant and reduces the vaccine’s effectiveness, but appears to cause less severe symptoms.

Of the 67 Omicron infections confirmed to date in Israel, there has been only one case of a seriously ill person – an unvaccinated man who was hospitalized – and no deaths. Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned of a potential lockdown “if we don’t take immediate and difficult action now”.

But the prime minister said that “our overriding goal is to keep the Israeli economy as open as possible, without foreclosure, and to do so without hitting the limits of hospitals.”

He also lamented Israel’s “horrific” vaccination rate, as the government pressed for more vaccines, especially the booster, to curb the spread of Omicron.

Echoing comments Horowitz made last week, Bennett said Israel “is bracing for the need” for fourth injections in the new year, starting with the immunocompromised.

According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health, 223 coronavirus infections were confirmed on Saturday, with 0.63% of return tests positive. The number of severe cases recently climbed back above 100, days after falling below that threshold for the first time in four months.

The death toll remained at 8,210, with no deaths since last Monday.

A total of 6,400,940 Israelis received a first vaccine against the coronavirus, 5,789,014 of whom also received a second vaccine and 4,120,329 of them received a third.

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