Switzerland on Friday banned travelers from Israel and other countries affected by a new coronavirus variant labeled a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization from entering the country.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
As of Friday night, passengers from Israel, southern Africa, Hong Kong, and Belgium will only be permitted to enter the Central European country if they have either Swiss citizenship or a residence permit in Switzerland or one of the 26 Schengen countries. Israelis with Swiss passports will be allowed to enter the country upon receiving a negative result from a COVID test carried out ahead of departure and will need to quarantine for 10 days upon landing.
Known as Omicron, the B1.1.529 virus mutation was first detected in South Africa and has started to spread, prompting governments in the United States, Britain, the European Union, and Canada to halt flights from several states in Southern Africa.
India has designated Israel a country at risk. Israelis must now quarantine for a week upon landing in the country.
While Israelis are still allowed into Dubai, beginning Saturday, they will need to undergo a coronavirus test upon landing in the United Arab Emirates and must quarantine in their hotel room until receiving a negative result.
Additional countries are expected to impose further coronavirus restrictions to thwart the new variant's spread in the coming days.
Jerusalem also issued a ban on all travelers from the African continent outside of North Africa. The principal countries targeted by the travel ban include South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
Israel detected several cases of the Omicron variant on Friday, the Health Ministry said.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
On Saturday, Dutch authorities were trying to determine whether 61 passengers from South Africa who tested positive for COVID-19 had been infected with the Omicron strain.
Following Belgium's identification of a suspected case of the highly infectious variant Friday, Germany and the Czech Republic on Saturday announced they had also detected suspected cases of the Omicron variant.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
