COVID-19: Israel ends use of sanitary pass

The country had been one of the first to put in place a sanitary pass. It was not necessary to access cafes, restaurants and gyms, but it was necessary to present it in cinemas or concert halls.

Le Monde with AFP

This country was a pioneer: thanks to a decline in contaminations to the Omicron Variant, Israel will see its sanitary pass disappear. “We end the use of the green passport [Sanitary pass in Israel], the Omicron wave has been judged, there is now a sharp drop in the number of serious patients and contaminated,” said Israeli Prime Minister Naftali. Bennett, after a meeting with public health officials.

At the height of the wave caused by the Omicron Variant, at the end of January, Israel had recorded a local record of contamination with spikes to more than 80,000 cases per day for this country of 9.3 million inhabitants. But in the last two weeks, this number has gradually decreased to Thursday approximately 21,000 cases, according to the data from the Ministry of Health.

The Israeli government had been one of the first countries to put in place a health plan a year ago, shortly after the launch of a vast vaccination campaign, in order to combat the pandemic related to Vis- 19. In early February, the government announced cancel the obligation to have a pass to attend cafes, restaurants, bars, sports halls or hotels, but had maintained it for other places, such as Concert halls or cinemas.

Three doses of vaccine for more than half of the Israelis

The Israeli government must also decide in the coming days on abandoning the requirement of a PCR test, in order to enter the country, currently open to foreign travelers, said the Prime Minister.

Earlier this week, thousands of Israelis have converged towards Jerusalem in car or trucks from several cities across the country to protest against sanitary restrictions related to the pandemic, imitating convoys appeared in Canada and having spread in several countries . This convoy, which had for the destination of Parliament in Jerusalem, provoked large traffic jams in a horn concert, found journalists from the France-Presse agency.

Israel had also acted in a pioneer with the launch of a vast vaccination campaign as early as December 2020, thanks to an agreement with the Pfizer Pharmaceutical Giant. Today, nearly half of the population received three doses of vaccine, which contributed, according to the health authorities, to limit the number of hospitalizations to the strongest of the wave due to the Omicron Variant.

m. Bennett also repeated in recent weeks want to fight against the virus, in particular by encouraging vaccination, but without “blocking” the economy of the country, which had contracted the first months of the pandemic. Over the past year, in 2021, the Israeli economy has rebounded to see its gross domestic product grow by 8.1%, its strongest growth since 2000, Wednesday said the National Institute of Statistics.

/Media reports.