Israel To Ban Entry Of Foreigners Over New COVID Variant

As part of its attempts to combat a novel coronavirus type, Israel approved banning foreign nationals from entering the country and the deployment of contentious technologies for contact tracing on Sunday.

“The country’s coronavirus cabinet has adopted a series of actions, including red-listing travel to 50 African countries, barring entry by foreigners, and demanding quarantine for all Israelis traveling from abroad,” the Health Ministry stated in a statement.

“It also allowed the controversial phone tracking technique used by the Shin Bet internal security agency to track down people infected with the novel omicron type of coronavirus in Israel.”

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The use of cellphone surveillance equipment was criticized by Israeli rights groups as a violation of privacy rights, and the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that its usage be limited.

Dr. Ran Balicer, the head of the government’s COVID-19 advisory body, told Israel’s Kan public radio that the extra precautions were required due to the fog of war that surrounded the new variation, and that it was better to act early and strictly to prevent its spread.

Israel announced on Saturday that the new strain had been discovered in a tourist returning from Malawi, and that it was examining seven more potential cases. Three of the seven people were vaccinated, and they were all placed in isolation.

In South Africa, scientists have discovered a novel coronavirus type that is causing alarm due to its large number of mutations and quick transmission, according to scientists.

Since the commencement of the epidemic, Israel, a country with a population of 9.3 million people, has reported at least 8,184 deaths due to coronavirus. More than 6.3 million Israelis have received at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and more than 4 million have received a booster.

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According to Health Ministry figures, there are more than 7,000 current cases, with 120 of them hospitalized in critical condition.