According to Israel’s health ministry, several countries, including the UAE, will be removed from a Covid “red list” of banned locations despite an increase in cases of the Omicron strain.
Health ministry recommends to the government to remove all countries from the red list at this stage, it said in a statement. It will take effect Thursday, the ministry said, adding that it was “subject to government approval”.
The measure was taken “in light of the percentage of infections shared by people entering Israel versus the percentage shared by residents of Israel”, the ministry said.
In an effort to slow an Omicron-fueled surge in cases, Israel barred travel to these countries among dozens of “red” destinations last month. The ban came after Israel blocked entry to all foreign tourists in late November. This week, vaccinated visitors from low-risk countries can enter the country.
The travel bans, Naftali Bennett said on Sunday, “delayed” Omicron’s onset. He said that five weeks ago Israel closed its borders to foreign nationals, which led to a long delay in Omicron entering the country.
Apart from the UAE, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mexico, Switzerland, and Turkey will be removed from the banned destinations list.
Israel reported 16,115 Coronavirus infections on Wednesday, the highest daily load since the outbreak began.
