Israel imposed anti-virus-19 health pass on children for three years

Israel imposed anticovid-19 health pass on children over three under new restrictions that attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Faced for weeks with an increase in infections linked to the Delta variant, Israel began applying this health pass on July 29 to limit access to certain places to people who have been vaccinated, recovered from COVID-19 or have a negative diagnostic test.

On Wednesday, the government approved the extension of this measure to children aged 3 to 12, with effect from August 18.

Israel It also established a mandatory quarantine for passengers arriving from almost any country in the world, whether or not they are vaccinated.

With nine million inhabitants, This country launched a rapid vaccination campaign in December, benefiting from an agreement with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

The number of infections has dropped significantly, but has risen again in recent weeks due to the spread of the contagious variant Delta in unvaccinated adults and also in people vaccinated more than six months ago.

In the past 24 hours, Israel has registered 5,802 new cases.

The Coronavirus Cabinet, the government body handling the pandemic, last week approved new restrictive measures to stop the rising curve of infections caused by the Delta variant. Among the measures are the the compulsory wearing of the mask in outdoor gatherings of more than a hundred people or the reduction of face-to-face work to 50% in the public sector, in addition to encouraging private companies to do the same.

“Avoid the crowds and get vaccinated now. Otherwise, there will be no choice but to impose more severe restrictions, including a closure “warned Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Benet.

Faced with the upsurge in infections, Israel again imposed compulsory masks in confined spaces at the end of June, just ten days after the standard was lifted, although few people still comply in restaurants, supermarkets. or in public transport. For him, Some 1,600 municipal inspectors have been recruited to monitor compliance.

The new restrictions come as the spread of the much more contagious delta variant has brought the number of new daily cases to more than 5,000. Patients admitted in critical condition reach 230, after reaching zero in the country.

From the On August 20, the Green Pass will also be fully operational again., according to which only the vaccinated, cured or negatively tested population can access certain spaces, a system which was repealed after the success of the vaccination campaign.

With the promise to keep the economy active, Israel has focused its response to this new wave of covid on imposing travel restrictions on more and more countries, without achieving total border closures.

(With information from AFP)

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