Israel bans citizens from traveling to countries on the red list including Portugal
The Israeli government this Sunday banned its citizens from traveling to several European countries on the red list, including Portugal, and admitted that the United States may be included, to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of covid-19.
Travel restrictions, which already affected most African countries, but also Great Britain and Denmark, now extend to Spain, Portugal, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates, according to France Press news agency.
Israel’s Ministry of Health also recommends adding to the red list in Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Switzerland and Turkey, as well as the United States of America, despite the hundreds of dual nationality players.
This new proposal has not yet been validated by the government.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett defended these travel restrictions to prevent recourse to new roadblocks.
“Time is running out. European countries have instituted blockades or are preparing to do so,” said today, ahead of a cabinet meeting.
Travelers from countries included on the red list are banned from entering Israel, with some exceptions. Israeli citizens and residents of a country included on the red list will be required to perform a one week quarantine after their return.
More than 440 cases of the Omicron variant were detected in Israel, one month after its identification in South Africa.
Covid-19 has caused more than 5.33 million deaths worldwide since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest report by Agence France-Presse.
In Portugal, since March 2020, 18,778 people have died and 1,225,102 cases of infection have been recorded, according to data from the General Directorate of Health.
The respiratory disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China, and currently with variants identified in several countries.
A new variant, an Omicron, classified as concerned by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been detected in southern Africa, but since the South African health authorities raised the alert on 24 November, infections have been reported in at least 89 countries from all continents, including Portugal.