Coronavirus Global situation
Israel reinstates indoor mask mandate
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A man wearing a mask in a Jerusalem mosque yesterday, as a mask-wearing rule for enclosed public places kicked in.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
JERUSALEM • The Israeli Health Ministry reimposed a requirement yesterday for masks to be worn in enclosed public places following a surge in Covid-19 cases after it was dropped 10 days ago.
The head of Israel's pandemic response task force, Dr Nachman Ash, told public radio that the requirement came after four days of more than 100 new cases a day, with 227 cases confirmed on Thursday.
"We are seeing a doubling every few days," he said. "Another thing that's worrying is that the infections are spreading."
Dr Ash said the rise in cases was likely due to the highly contagious Delta variant first detected in India.
Reimposing the mask requirement is a setback for Israel, coming so soon after it was lifted on June 15 on the back of a successful vaccination campaign. About 5.2 million people have received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, after Israel obtained millions of doses.
Dr Ash said that despite the increased number of positive cases, he has not yet seen a parallel rise in hospitalisations or deaths. "We hope the vaccines will protect us from a rise in hospitalisation and difficult cases," he added.
The Health Ministry urged Israelis to wear masks in crowded outdoor spaces too.
Israel became a pioneer in Covid-19 vaccination after then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu obtained millions of doses from Pfizer in exchange for sharing data on the vaccines' impact.
In February, Mr Netanyahu celebrated the arrival of a batch of vaccines, saying: "We have made Israel a global model for success."
The resulting fall in new cases allowed much of daily life to return to normal.
Mr Naftali Bennett, who took over as Prime Minister this month, warned on Tuesday of a "new outbreak" and asked Israelis to cancel their travel plans to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Israel also announced that it is delaying plans to reopen its borders to tourists.
Mr Bennett urged parents to vaccinate children aged 12 and above "as soon as possible", noting that Israel's stock of vaccines would soon expire.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
