The Israeli parliament (Knesset) is restricting its activities due to concerns about an outbreak of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. According to media reports, nine other MPs had to be quarantined because they were in contact with a reporter allegedly infected with the Omikron variant.
Many activities should now only take place online and via Zoom, a spokesman confirmed on Sunday. The exact extent of the restrictions is still being discussed. A total of eleven MPs are now in quarantine, he said. According to the reporter concerned, around 130 Knesset employees had to be quarantined.
Numbers are increasing
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett put the people in the mood for a fifth corona wave on Sunday. The entry restrictions imposed three weeks ago are not sufficient, he said during a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
There are already infections with the Omikron variant within the country and the number is increasing. “The wave is coming, every family has to prepare.” Bennett again called for booster vaccinations and vaccinations for children. An infection with the Omicron variant has already been detected in 175 Israelis. There are also 380 suspected cases.
Only around 59 percent vaccination rate
Israel has already passed the fourth corona wave. Recently, however, the number of infections has risen slightly again. Only around 59 percent of the 9.4 million Israelis are still considered fully vaccinated. These are twice vaccinated up to six months after the second vaccination and people with booster vaccination. 32 percent of the population are not vaccinated at all, with nine percent the vaccination has already expired.
Israel’s Ministry of Health has meanwhile put other European countries on a red list of countries to which Israelis are not allowed to travel because of the omicron variant of the corona virus. Parliament on Sunday approved an order from the Ministry of Health prohibiting travel to France, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. Great Britain and Denmark were already on the red list.
Travel ban for the USA too?
The Ministry of Health now recommends adding Germany, the USA, Canada, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey to the red list. The government has not yet given the go-ahead for this. Above all, a travel ban for the USA would be a drastic cut in view of hundreds of thousands of dual citizens and the close ties between the two countries.
Ahead of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reiterated that he is putting further travel restrictions on in order to avoid lockdowns in Israel. With the renewed closure of its borders to foreigners shortly after the discovery of the omicron variant in South Africa, Israel “bought precious time,” said Bennett. Many European countries are already “in lockdown or on the way there”.
Iran reports first Omicron case
Israel had closed its borders for more than a year and a half because of the corona pandemic and did not reopen them to vaccinated travelers until the beginning of November. Since the end of November, entry for foreigners has been prohibited again, and special permits must be applied for.
Meanwhile, Iran reported its first Omicron case on Sunday. The virus variant was detected in a man from Tehran who tested positive for the corona virus after returning from a trip to the United Arab Emirates, according to Vice Minister of Health Kamal Heidari.
Source: Nachrichten
