Israel on Saturday stated it might ban the entry of all foreigners into the nation, making it the primary nation to close its borders fully in response to a brand new and probably extra contagious coronavirus variant.
It additionally stated that it might use counter-terrorism phone-tracking know-how in an effort to comprise the unfold of the Omicron variant.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated in a press release that the ban, pending authorities approval, would final 14 days. Officers hope that inside that interval there will likely be extra data on how efficient COVID-19 vaccines are in opposition to Omicron, which was first detected in South Africa and has been dubbed a “variant of concern” by the World Well being Group.
“Our working hypotheses are that the variant is already in almost each nation,” Inside Minister Ayelet Shaked informed N12’s “Meet the Press,” “and that the vaccine is efficient, though we don’t but know to what diploma.”
Israelis coming into the nation, together with those that are vaccinated, will likely be required to quarantine, Bennett stated. The ban will come into impact at midnight between Sunday and Monday. A journey ban on foreigners coming from most African states was imposed on Friday.
The Shin Guess counter-terrorism company’s phone-tracking know-how will likely be used to find carriers of the brand new variant in an effort to curb its transmission to others, Bennett stated.
Used on and off since March 2020, the surveillance know-how matched virus carriers’ areas in opposition to different cell phones close by to find out with whom that they had come into contact. Israel’s Supreme Court docket this 12 months restricted the scope of its use after civil rights teams mounted challenges over privateness issues.
The variant, which has additionally been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany and Britain, has sparked international concern and a wave of journey curbs, though epidemiologists say such restrictions could also be too late to cease Omicron from circulating globally.
Israel has to this point confirmed one case of Omicron, with seven suspected circumstances. The Well being Ministry has not stated whether or not the confirmed case was vaccinated. Three of the seven suspected circumstances had been totally vaccinated, the ministry stated on Saturday, and three had not returned from journey overseas lately.
Round 57% of Israel’s 9.4 million inhabitants is totally vaccinated, in line with the Well being Ministry, which implies they’ve both acquired a 3rd shot of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine or it has not but been 5 months since they acquired their second dose. Israel has recorded 1.3 million confirmed circumstances of COVID-19 and greater than 8,000 fatalities because the pandemic started.
(Reuters)