Israel announces world’s strictest ban to contain Omicron strain after one confirmed case

As the omicron strain of the novel coronavirus has sparked concerns worldwide with cases detected in two travellers in the UK, two in Germany and at least one in Italy, Israel on Saturday scrambled to impose the world’s strictest ban prohibiting all overseas travellers from entering Tel Aviv. Israel has detected single confirmed and seven suspected cases of the new B.1.1.529 with concerning a large number of mutations on its protein spike. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet led government on Nov. 27 directed the country’s intelligence services to conduct rigorous testing and tracing among those who have recently arrived from nations that have turned to hotspots of the newly-emerged Omicron. 

Effective Sunday night, Israel completely sealed its borders to all foreign nationals for at least 14 days, according to several Hebrew press reports. 

“The Government of Israel is working quickly and vigorously thanks to the conclusions that were formulated following the 'Omega' national drill which gamed various situations regarding the appearance of new variants,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett noted at a state press conference. He was referring to a national drill conducted just two weeks ago that accessed Israel’s ‘preparedness’ incase an outbreak of a potential unknown new strain of COVID-19 occured within the country. 

As per the new sweeping restrictions, all international travellers or those that returned from abroad will now have to be mandatorily quarantined for at least three days. Meanwhile, citizens coming from “red” countries on the list were asked to isolate at the military facilities and would have to test negative twice. As the Bennett administration fears that there could be more cases of the Omicron circulating among the Israeli population, Israel’s coronavirus cabinet on Saturday called for an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the steps ahead to tackle this new variant that has rattled the countries worldwide.

“Prime Minister Naftali Bennett favours stringent restrictions and other ministers inclining to a more lenient approach,” The Times of Israel newspaper reported from Tel Aviv on Saturday, adding that experts and medical fraternity in Israel believe that the heavily mutated strain will transmit more easily, expressing concerns about its high level of virulence. 

Switzerland becomes world's first nation to impose ban on Israeli nationals

Anyone attempting to enter from Israel, Belgium, Hong Kong and the African countries will have to compulsorily produce Swiss citizenship or a residency permit in the European Union’s Schengen area, announced Switzerland on Saturday after a single case of Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 was detected in Israel. Switzerland earlier yesterday became the first country in the world to impose strict limitations on Israelis arriving in Switzerland. A new travel ban applies to all “vaccinated and recovered persons,” a statement from Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health asserted on Nov. 27.

Israel announced that effective Sunday, all arrivals from so-called “red” countries will be processed through Ben Gurion Airport’s smaller Terminal 1 as new rules will be implemented. According to Kan news, Bennett wanted to ban all overseas travellers and instate the strictest measures to contain the new Omicorn variant despite facing criticism in the cabinet. Israel fully reopened to vaccinated tourists on November 1.