November 28, (THEWILL) – Israel has announced plans to close its borders to all foreigners later Sunday in a bid to stem the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
“The entry of foreign nationals into Israel is banned, except for cases approved by a special committee”, the prime minister’s office said in a statement, adding that the measure would take effect on Sunday evening.
Israeli citizens will be required to present a negative PCR test and quarantine themselves for three days if they have been vaccinated against the coronavirus and seven days if they have not.
The Health Ministry said in a statement that the country’s coronavirus cabinet had authorised a raft of measures, including red-listing travel to 50 African countries, and mandating quarantine for all Israelis arriving from abroad.
It also approved use of the Shin Bet internal security agency’s controversial phone monitoring technology to perform contact tracing of individuals confirmed with the new omicron variant of coronavirus in Israel.
The government’s latest announcement came just hours before the start at sundown of the eight-day-long Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
It already imposed a series of emergency measures late Friday to protect its heavily vaccinated population after identifying a case of the new Covid-19 variant.
The health ministry said the new strain that was first detected by South Africa, known as B.1.1.529 which was discovered in a person who had arrived from Malawi.
Two more suspected cases have been detected in people returning from abroad, it said, adding that all three, who had been vaccinated, were placed in quarantine. The government later announced another suspected case.
Scientists in South Africa said on Thursday that they had detected the new B.1.1.529 variant with at least 10 mutations, compared with two for Delta or three for Beta.
The strain was of “serious concern” and had been blamed for a surge in infections, the authorities in South Africa said.
It has also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong among travellers from South Africa, as well as in Belgium.
The new variant “is concerning and has the potential to be very dangerous. We are raising a red flag”, Israeli Prome Minister Naftali Bennett said late Friday.
He said Israel would order 10 million PCR test kits.
Israel was one of the first countries to launch vaccines against the coronavirus last year, thanks to a deal with Pfizer that gave it access to millions of doses in exchange for data on the vaccine’s efficacy.
Its initial vaccine rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab was among the world’s fastest, and more than 5.7 million of the country’s nine million people are now fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, as the World scrambled to contain the deadly Omicron, several countries have imposed travel ban on South Africa and some other countries.
THEWILL had reported that the United Kingdom (UK), suspended flights from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson expanded the list to include Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Angola. They join the travel “red list” from 0400 GMT on Sunday
On its part, the United States restricted travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
Australia also banned the entry of non-citizens from nine African countries: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, the Seychelles, Malawi, and Mozambique. Only Australian citizens will be allowed entry from those countries and will be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine.
Joining the list, Bahrain has banned travel to and from 10 African countries: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola and Zambia. Only citizens and residents of Bahrain will be allowed entry from those countries, given that they undergo testing and quarantine.
Canada restricted entry of foreign nationals who have travelled through seven African countries: South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mozambique.
Also, Egypt banned entry of travelers from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini.
European Union agreed to urge all 27 member countries to restrict entry of travelers who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini in the past 14 days.
Following the development Russia has restricted the entry of all foreigners from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, Eswatini, Tanzania, and Hong Kong. Only Russian citizens will be allowed entry.
Jordan also banned entry of travelers from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini.
In a similar manner, Kuwait has banned entry of foreigners from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Eswatini, Zambia, Lesotho and Malawi. Kuwaiti citizens returning from those countries will have to undergo a seven-day quarantine.
On its part, Saudi Arabia banned all travel to and from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini.
In a new proclamation, Thailand banned the entry of travelers from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
This was also followed by Turkey, as it banned travel from Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
This is just as the United Arab Emirate (UAE) banned entry of travelers and transit passengers from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique.
Similarly, Oman banned entry of travelers from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique.
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