Israel ban travel restrictions in response to a new COVID variant

Israel ban travel restricted travel to 50 African countries, barred foreigners from entering the country, and made quarantine mandatory for Israelis returning from abroad.

As part of its efforts to combat a new coronavirus variant, Israel approved a ban on foreign nationals. Entering the country and the use of controversial technology for contact tracing on Sunday. Israeli rights groups had criticized the use of cellphone monitoring technology as a violation of privacy rights. And the Supreme Court had ruled earlier this year that its use be restricted.

Dr. Ran Balicer, head of the government’s COVID-19 advisory panel, told Israel’s Kan public radio. That the new measures were needed because of the “fog of war” surrounding the new variant. And that it was “better to act early and strictly” to prevent its spread.

On Saturday, Israel announced that it had discovered the new strain in a traveler. Who had returned from Malawi and was investigating seven other possible causes.

Three of the seven people were vaccinated, and they were all placed in isolation.

Scientists are concerned about a new coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa due to its high number of mutations and rapid spread. Over 6.3 million Israelis have received at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. And more than 4 million have received a booster. However, according to Health Ministry statistics, over 7,000 active cases, with 120 of them hospitalized in critical condition.

Since the pandemic, Israel, a country of 9.3 million people, has reported at least 8,184 deaths from coronavirus.