Israel to impose travel ban on Britain and Denmark over coronavirus concerns

Israel is banning its citizens from travelling to Britain and Denmark from Wednesday due to concerns over the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Sharon Alroy-Preis, Israel’s Director of Public Health, announced yesterday at a news conference held by the Israeli Health Ministry, that the three countries are being placed on the ‘red’ list because of the ‘significant’ spread of the Omicron variant.

She said, “These are three countries in which it is clear the spread of Omicron in the community is very significant.”

She added that Belgium would be included in the ban, but the Health Ministry said, later, that it had reassessed infection rates there and decided to keep the country off the “red” list for now.

Israel has already banned the entry of foreigners to try to stem COVID-19 infection rates and has imposed three-to-seven days’ self-isolation orders for Israelis returning from abroad.

“Whoever is planning to travel abroad at this time needs to know that, upon their return, they are likely to go into full quarantine because the country will be declared a red country,” said Nachman Ash, the National Pandemic Response Coordinator, during the news conference.

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Nearly 50 countries, mainly in Africa, have been declared “red” by Israel since the discovery of the highly contagious variant.

According to Alroy-Preis, Omicron is more contagious than past variants and is better able to evade vaccines. However, she also noted it has caused less fatalities and severe morbidity than previous COVID-19 outbreaks.

444 new cases of the coronavirus were reported yesterday in Israel, with 96 patients in serious condition, according to a Monday morning update by the Israeli Health Ministry.

According to The Jerusalem Post, of those infected, 51 were on ventilators. The death toll stood at 8,216.