The Epoch Times Israel on Saturday unveiled new plans to ban all foreigners into the country, a world-first in efforts to curb the spread of the newly detected COVID-19 variant called Omicron.
The nation has also revealed plans to use counter-terrorism phone-tracking technology to surveil the new variantâs spread.
The travel ban to all foreigners would last 14 days, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.
The new measures, which still require government approval, come after Israel announced a smaller-scale travel ban on Friday for foreigners coming from most African countries.
Officials hope that within the 14-day period, more information about how effective COVID-19 vaccines are against the new CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus strain may emerge.
Omicron was first detected in southern Africa and has been dubbed a âvariant of concernâ by the World Health Organization. It has since also been detected in Belgium, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
âOur working hypotheses are that the variant is already in nearly every country ⊠and that the vaccine is effective, although we donât yet know to what degree,â Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked told N12âs âMeet the Press.â
Israel will also require all its citizensâincluding those who have been COVID-19 vaccinatedâto quarantine, Bennett said. The measure will be in effect the midnight between Sunday and Monday.
