Health Ministry officials have recently discussed a proposal to ban travel to all foreign countries in an effort to prevent the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant in Israel.
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The proposal was raised in recent internal ministry talks as a more stringent version of recommendations to be presented to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz. While such a move is unlikely to be adopted at this stage, the option has been discussed among senior ministry officials.
With morbidity levels rising around the world and the infection rate among Israelis returning to the country consistently on the rise, the number of "red" countries will likely grow in the coming days.
On Sunday, the government will vote on whether to add the US, Canada, Portugal, Turkey, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, and Belgium to the country's no-fly list. If approved, Israelis would be banned from traveling to those countries beginning Tuesday night.
According to Health Ministry data, Omicron is spreading inside Israel largely due to the entry of Israeli passengers who contracted the variant overseas.
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