New wave of delta variant threatens return to normalcy in Israel

Israel reinstated use of face masks and postponed reopening its borders to foreign tourists, after the increase in infections linked to the highly transmissible delta variant.

“The decision was made that once we had over 100 new cases on average per week, we would restore the use of masks in confined spacesPublic health official Sharon Alroy-Preis said, according to the Ynet website. “I imagine that will happen as early as Sunday given the rapid trend we are seeing.” The chinstrap measurement was removed earlier this month.

As of mid-June, new cases had fallen to single digits, but this week they have surpassed 100 for three consecutive days. The majority of the new cases concern unvaccinated children and people returning from abroad. Some of the patients had been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

While the Delta variant most contagious to date, almost all cases in Israel have been asymptomatic or mild, and the number of seriously ill people remained at around two dozen. The businesses remained open.

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the Wednesday evening 23, Israel postponed the reopening of its borders to foreign tourism until August 1, a month later than expected.

“We have decided to treat this as a new epidemic. We intend to stop it, take a bucket of water and put out the flames while they are still small, ”Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday at the national airport, who throughout of the pandemic was a vector of the disease.

Among the measures the government has taken this week includes stricter quarantine regulations, more daily testing and a fine of 5,000 shekels (US $ 1,535) for parents whose children do not meet quarantine. The use of masks has already been reimposed at airports, border crossings and medical establishments.

Bennett’s swift action shows that Israel has learned a lesson from the devastating reopening of its economy after its first lockdown, under then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The reduction in the number of cases has relaxed precautionary measures, skyrocketing infections to more than 11,000 a day. The country subsequently managed to bring the pandemic under control, but not without first imposing a series of quarantines and implementing the most aggressive vaccination campaign against the virus.

MF CP