With less than 200 cases of new COVID variant Omicron worldwide, and a fourth case confirmed in Israel, the country has chosen to bar entry from tourists for at least the next two weeks despite just having reopened its borders.
An official statement released on Saturday says that vaccinated or recovered Israelis will be required to enter a 3-day quarantine, where they will be able to take a test and if negative, be released on the third day. For unvaccinated Israelis, the required quarantine is seven days. Cell phone monitoring will be activated to track the Omicron strain. While the statement also says that “the Finance and Tourism ministries will formulate ways to assist the tourism sector accordingly,” the airlines have been refused any compensation for their losses.
The Finance Ministry stated that “these are regular business risks and the airline industries know that we’re operating in the coronavirus era. The government is not the private sector’s insurance company. Industries should be planning for such events in advance.”
