Israel is imposing a travel ban on all foreigners in an effort to stop the spread of the omikron variant of the coronavirus. The measure will take effect from Sunday to Monday night and will in principle last for two weeks. Israel is the first country to completely close its borders due to the novel coronavirus variant.
Residents of Israel who return from abroad must also report mandatory three days in quarantine Israeli media. The measure also applies to vaccinated Israelis. After three days of isolation, they must test negative for the coronavirus to lift the quarantine. Unvaccinated Israelis are only allowed to leave the quarantine after seven days and a negative test.
So far, one infection with omikron has been identified in Israel. Seven other infections are still under investigation.
In addition, the Israeli government has approved cell phones belonging to infected Israelis tracken. With special technology from the Shin Bet internal security service, it is possible to find out where someone has been in recent days and with whom that person has been in contact. The technology was also used during an earlier corona wave.
More entry restrictions
The omikron variant of the coronavirus has caused concern and unrest worldwide, although there are little known is about the new mutation. The mutation was first discovered in South Africa. European countries, including the Netherlands, therefore have a no-fly zone established for countries in southern Africa.
The variant has now appeared in Belgium, Germany and Italy, among others. In most cases, these were people who had recently been to the south of Africa.
According to the RIVM, a number of people in the Netherlands are probably infected with the variant. It concerns people who flew to Schiphol from South Africa on Friday. 61 passengers tested positive for the coronavirus. After further investigation, it turned out that an abnormality was found in the so-called spike protein. Later today it becomes clear whether this concerns the omikron variant.
Several countries are now also tightening entry rules for the Netherlands, due to concerns about the omikron variant. Dutch people have to a visit to Switzerland from now on submit a negative test and quarantine for ten days. The United Kingdom, where two omikron infections are known, requires all travelers to take a negative test to gain entry to the country.
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