Israel will require all citizens who return from abroad to self-quarantine for 14 days as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
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It will admit foreigners only if they can prove they have the means to self-quarantine, Israeli media said, adding that this measure would go into effect on Thursday.
"After 24 hours of deliberations, we have made the decision that anyone who enters Israel from abroad will be subject to quarantine for 14 days," Netanyahu said. "This was a tough decision to make, but it is essential if we want to safeguard the health of the general public; public health trumps everything. This decision will be in effect for two weeks."
The measure would mean quarantine for some 300,000 citizens in a country of around 9 million.
Netanyahu added that his office was taking additional steps to ensure Israel's economy was not adversly affected.
So far, 39 Israelis have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus. Over 70,000 Israelis – those who have recently returned from trips to Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, China, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and Italy, and those exposed to them in various ways – have been ordered into a 14-day home quarantine.
This had made travel and trade difficult, with tourism expected to suffer.
