Israel: Omicron variant brings fifth wave of Covid-19, says Prime Minister Bennett

The fifth wave of Covid-19 has begun. The Omicron variant brought the fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic to Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a televised speech today, urging citizens to step up vaccination of children and the administration of booster doses.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli government banned its citizens from traveling to European countries that have been blacklisted, and the United States could be added to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant.

These travel restrictions, which already apply to most African countries, as well as Britain and Denmark, now apply to Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. Emirates.

The Israeli Ministry of Health has also recommended that the United States be added to this red list, despite the hundreds of thousands of dual nationals, as well as Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey.

This proposal has not yet been ratified by the government.

Prime Minister Bennett defended the travel restrictions, stressing that they are necessary to avoid resorting to new lockdowns.

“Time is running out. European countries have either quarantined or are preparing to do so,” he said ahead of a cabinet meeting.

Travelers from countries on the red list are prohibited from entering Israel, with certain exceptions. Citizens and residents of Israel who were in a country recently blacklisted should be quarantined for one week as soon as they return.

More than 440 cases of the Omicron variant have already been identified in Israel, a month after it was identified in South Africa.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ