COVID scare: Israel bans US, Canada travel to prevent omicron spread

On Monday, ministers of the Israeli government came to an agreement to ban travel to countries like the United States, Canada, among eight others. This decision was taken against the backdrop of the rapid, global spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office announced the decision following a Cabinet vote.

The decision to red-list the US is a rare one, and comes due to the rising coronavirus infection cases in Israel. It also marks a drastic departure from the pandemic practices these two nations, with close diplomatic ties, have observed. The US joins an increasing list of European countries and other places where Israelis are banned from travelling. Returning travellers from these locations must also remain quarantined. 

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A parliamentary committee is expected to give the measure final approval. Once authorized, the travel ban will take effect at midnight Wednesday morning.

Israel has seen a surge in new cases of the more infectious coronavirus variant in recent weeks and began closing its borders and restricting travel in late November. Foreign nationals are not allowed to enter, and all Israelis arriving from overseas are required to quarantine — including people who are vaccinated.

Other countries that found their place on this list of places where travel is banned starting Wednesday, are Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Switzerland, and Turkey.

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Israel rolled out a world-leading vaccination campaign early this year, and more than 4.1 million of Israel’s 9.3 million people have received a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

In a prime-time address on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urged parents to vaccinate their children, declaring that the country’s “fifth wave” of coronavirus infections had begun. As of Sunday, Israel’s Health Ministry has reported 175 cases of the new variant.

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Israel has recorded at least 8,232 deaths from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

In Europe too, countries are shutting down borders. France has already decided to not let their neighbours from UK enter, since the number of cases across are extremely high there. 

[Edited with AP inputs]