Israel announced on Saturday it would close its borders to all foreigners as it tries to stop the new omicron COVID-19 “variant of concern” from infecting its people.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement that, pending government approval, it would ban foreign travel to Israel for 14 days, becoming the first country to take such drastic action.
Health authorities in the Middle Eastern country have already confirmed one case of the new variant, thought to be about five times more contagious than the delta strain. There are another seven suspected cases, all in quarantine.
“Our working hypotheses are that the variant is already in nearly every country,” Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked told Israeli television.
He added that health experts had confirmed “the vaccine is effective, although we don’t yet know to what degree.”
Authorities will use the Shin Bet counter-terrorism phone-tracking technology to find and isolate those who may have been exposed to the new variant.
All Israelis entering the country will have to quarantine, even if they are vaccinated. The restrictions will come into force on midnight between Sunday and Monday.
First detected in South Africa and other countries in the region, cases have now been found in Germany, UK, Italy, Belgium, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
But despite the effort to shut down Israel, epidemologists say travel curbs could be too late to stop omicron from spreading across the world.
Scientists believe it could take weeks to fully understand the variant’s mutations and if vaccines would be effective for fightings its effects.
Here is a roundup of the latest COVID news from around the world.
Europe
A growing list of European countries have reported cases of the newly discovered omicron strain of COVID-19.
The Czech Republic was the latest country to confirm a case. A hospital in the northern city of Liberec reported that it had found the strain in a female patient and confirmed it with “90-percent probability.”
The woman is understood to have traveled to the country from Namibia via South Africa and Dubai according to AFP news agency, who cited the country’s Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
The case in the Czech Republic came after the discovery of two cases of the variant in the UK and one case in Italy.
All three cases were linked to travel with southern African countries.
Meanwhile Germany confirmed it detected two cases of the omicron variant in the southern state of Bavaria.
The country’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) said the two infected individuals entered the country at Munich International Airport on November 24 and were now isolating.
Switzerland added the UK, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Egypt and Malawi to its quarantine list as it tried to stem the arrival of the omicron variant.
Travellers from these countries will have to show a negative COVID-19 test result and have to be quarantined for ten days too.
Only Swiss citizens or people with a residence permit will be allowed from Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium, authorities announced Friday.
Americas
The United States has praised South Africa for its speedy identification of the omicron strain. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor and praised the country’s scientists along with government’s level of transparency.
“Secretary Blinken specifically praised South Africa’s scientists for the quick identification of the Omicron variant and South Africa’s government for its transparency in sharing this information, which should serve as a model for the world,” the statement said.
Blinken also posted on Twitter and made reference to a “shared fight against COVID-19.”
Brazil’s health regulator has recommended widening travel restrictions to include more southern African countries to its travel ban. Anvisa has recommended that Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia be added to the list.
The regulator has no authority to enforce the recommendation, and would therefore need government approval before it could be implemented.
Oceania
In Australia health authorities said they are conducting urgent tests following the arrival of passengers from restricted countries.
The health department of New South Wales (NSW) said that two passengers had tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Sydney.
“NSW Health can confirm urgent genomic testing is underway after passengers who arrived in Sydney from southern Africa tonight have tested positive for COVID-19,” the statement read.
Tests were being conducted to determine whether the passengers were infected with the omicron variant. The passengers had been taken to special accomodation where they would be quarantined for 14 days.
jc,kb/aw (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-digest-israel-to-shut-its-borders-to-foreigners-due-to-omicron-variant/a-59958881?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf