Health Ministry Recommends Phasing Out Covid Restrictions

Amid declining numbers of covid cases, Israel officials were on their way to lifting pandemic restrictions, after a ministerial meeting Wednesday night.

Several restrictions on travel and tourism will be among the first to go, following recommendations made by Health Ministry officials to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, according to media reports.

They include canceling the requirement for returning travelers to present a covid test at the airport before boarding a flight to Israel (though the test at Ben Gurion after landing will remain); ending quarantine for unvaccinated children who travel abroad; allowing unvaccinated foreign children under 12 to enter; and ending the Green Pass vaccine proof that has been required for entry to public events.

The changes represent this first phase of Bennett’s reported goal to rescind all covid restrictions currently in force by March 1.

Details of the phaseout are to be finalized at a meeting on Thursday, and implementation may come into effect as soon as next week, according to an N12 report.

Some 20,340 new daily coronavirus infections were detected in Israel on Tuesday, with a positive return rate of 18.73% for the 108,571 PCR and antigen tests taken, Health Ministry data showed on Wednesday morning.

The number of serious cases continued to drop, with 927 as of Wednesday morning. Of that number, 331 are in critical condition, with 271 intubated and an additional 28 on ECMO machines.

The R rate has fallen from the previous day by an additional 0.2 points, down to 0.68, and data indicate a 42.4% decrease in new daily cases in comparison to seven days prior.