Israel will extend the closure of its borders for two weeks in the fight against Covid-19, a joint statement from the Ministry of Health and the Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday evening.
“The government voted in favor of a 14-day extension of the border closure, until March 6,” the statement said.
Israel had suspended international flights on January 24 in an attempt to come to terms with the pandemic, before also closing the border crossings with Jordan and Egypt.
International flights will therefore not resume as planned on February 21 and the closure of land borders will remain in place, except for certain exceptional cases.
The Immigration Ministry said that the government had nevertheless authorized the arrival of six special flights with new Jewish immigrants, from France, Russia, Ukraine, Ethiopia and South America, between 23 and 26 February.
About 900 new immigrants will be allowed to enter Israel but will be subject to quarantine upon arrival, the ministry said in a statement.
The Israeli authorities decided on Monday to ease social restriction measures as part of the release of the third confinement imposed since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic against the backdrop of an intense vaccination campaign.
After announcing the opening of certain shops and services last week, the government decided to authorize from February 21 the opening of street shops, shopping centers, markets, museums and bookstores.
The opening of sports halls, hotels, swimming pools and performance halls will be authorized to people who have received two doses of the vaccine or who have recovered from Covid-19.
Restaurants and bars will be allowed to open from March 7, if contamination cases continue to decline, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
Since mid-December, and thanks to an agreement with the giant Pfizer on the sharing of its medical data, Israel has vaccinated more than 4.1 million people (more than 40% of its population), including more than 2.8 million received a second dose.
The country of nine million inhabitants has officially recorded more than 741,000 cases including 5,501 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The Hebrew state is currently recording an average of around 4,000 new cases per day compared to around 8,000 in mid-January, according to official figures. And since the vaccine takes some time to be effective, the authorities expect to see the number of cases, and especially hospitalizations, decrease in the coming weeks.
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Israel will extend by two weeks the closure of its borders in the fight against Covid-19, a joint statement from the Ministry of Health and the Prime Minister’s office said Thursday evening. “The government voted in favor of ‘a 14-day extension of the border closure, until March 6, “the statement said. Israel had suspended flights …
