A new report from the Bank of Israel, released Thursday, breaks down the economic effects of the COVID pandemic on Israel's economy, by sector.

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The central bank characterized businesses most seriously affected as "close branches" – sectors of the economy whose ordinary operations entail a high risk of spreading the virus. Most of these are part of the leisure sector (hotels, airlines, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc.). Prior to the beginning of the COVID crisis in Israel, this sector employed some 30% of all workers in Israel and made up some 20% of the country's GDP, the bank reported.

Based on the report's data, the second nationwide lockdown during the High Holidays of 2020, had a detrimental effect of some 21% to these businesses' revenue and 14% in terms of employment.

In comparison, businesses in other sectors saw a near-zero effect on revenue and only a 7% effect on employment as a result of the second lockdown.

The bank noted that the drop in revenue and layoffs could not be attributed to any non-COVID factors, as the sector had seen growing demand for its products and services in the years prior to the pandemic.

"This finding highlights the need to make it possible for these businesses to survive at a time of crisis, through government aid," the report said.

Of all Israel's employment sectors, high tech felt the pandemic the least, the report said, and even saw growth of 5.8% in 2020.

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The economy might be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel as early as next week if a pilot testing program being launched by the health and defense ministries to conduct rapid COVID testing for public buildings proves a success.

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The "green building" pilot will take place in the Negev Center in Beersheba, which houses The Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev, the Israel Lands Authority, and the city's Sharia court. All three are deemed essential institutions and continue to operate during lockdown.

Under the pilot, all employees and visitors to these premises will be required to be tested upon arrival and receive results on their smartphone devices in just 10 minutes.

Employees and cleaning personnel will be tested every two days and will be required to follow all Health Ministry guidelines, including social distancing and limits to the number of people per room.

The pilot, a joint project by the Health Ministry, the IDF technological greenhouse, and Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center, which developed the rapid tests, is designed to experiment with a program that could potentially be expanded nationwide to allow businesses and other venues to reopen, putting the economy back on track.

In a related development, the Health Ministry is set to present next week an exit program from the current lockdown in an outline named "green badge." On Thursday, officials held several meetings with representatives from the leisure and culture sector in which several ideas were raised, including the possibility of opening cultural venues to people who can present proof of a negative COVID test taken within 48 hours.

Meanwhile, teenagers aged 16-18 will be able to get vaccinated starting next week, after Health Ministry Director-General Professor Hezi Levi received approval from the Vaccine Priorities Board on Thursday evening to go ahead with the campaign.

These teens are high school students in 11th and 12th grades who are slated to take matriculation exams this year, then be drafted into the IDF.  The health and education ministries as well as healthcare providers have begun logistic preparations to vaccinate the high schoolers.

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According to the CBS, in 2018 Israelis made 8,472,700 trips abroad, which means that 2019 saw an increase of over 705,000 journeys outside the country by Israeli citizens. The number of Israelis traveling abroad has doubled since 2010, with each year (with the exception of 2012) seeing Israelis making an increasing number of trips abroad.

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The CBS travel statistics for Israelis included a new figure – the number of Israelis living abroad who visited their native land, which in 2019 reached 182,000. The CBS attributes the jump in the number of Israelis abroad who traveled to Israel last year to the two Knesset elections held in 2019. The return trips of the Israelis who live abroad were included in the Israeli departure statistics.

The vast majority of travelers departed from Ben-Gurion International Airport, with over 8.2 million Israelis flying abroad from the country's main airport.

However, some Israeli travelers preferred to leave the country by land, with 776,800 citizens crossing the eastern border into Jordan, from where they continued on to other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia. This number is also a record.

Just under 5 million Israelis went through the Taba border crossing into Sinai and Egypt, an increase of 118,300 compared to 2018. A total of 91,300 Israelis sailed abroad in 2019, roughly the same number as in 2018.

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