Israel Resumes Indoor Mask Requirement

World

June 25th, 7:43am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A vial of the Pfizer vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is seen as medical staff are vaccinated at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel December 19, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The Israeli health ministry reimposed a requirement Friday for masks to be worn in enclosed public places following a surge in new cases since it was dropped 10 days ago. The head of Israel's pandemic response taskforce, Nachman Ash, told public radio the requirement came after four days of more than 100 new cases a day, in a country which prides itself on one of the world's most successful vaccine rollouts. Ash said the rise in cases was likely due to the highly contagious Delta variant first seen in India. The government has also postponed the planned reopening of the country to vaccinated tourists. Israel was set to reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors on July 1, after having largely closed the country during the pandemic. It had already started allowing groups of vaccinated tourists to enter in May. All visitors will need to be tested before boarding flights to Israel and show proof of vaccination. But after a rise in infections in the past week, the government said Wednesday that it would be pushing that date until Aug. 1.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3046396/israel-resumes-indoor-mask-requirement