RE: Novacyt . Fill your boots !25 Jun 2021 16:27
Wilson - Translation 1/2 Published on 06/24/2021 at 08:00 - Modified on 06/24/2021 at 10:48
THEhe end of the mandatory wearing of masks in enclosed places less than a fortnight ago had been the last signal of the return to freedom. And Israelis believed in it hard as iron: no more, the pandemic and its nightmares. But patatras! The curve of contaminations panics again, passing, in the space of seventy-two hours from forty positive cases to more than 110 per day. Active cases or contacts, some vaccinated and others not, are sent to quarantine. Among them, quite a few young people, parents or teachers. In the media, it is the great return, in prime time, of public health officials, experts, epidemiologists, virologists ...
Despite a record vaccination rate – more than 5 million people out of 9 million have received the two doses of Pfizer – Covid, and more specifically the variant "Delta", which appeared in India,has transformed into clusters neighborhoods of three cities of the country: Binyamina in the North, Modiin west of Jerusalem and Netanya on the coastal road. Positive cases have also been detected in schools and kindergartens in other cities in the centre of the country.
Anger at indiscipline
Faced with this, Naftali Bennett, the new Prime Minister,did not wait and called on Israelis to travel abroad only if necessary. Referring to the new Covid outbreak in Binyamina, he stressed that tracing had made it possible to trace the source of the contamination: a family that had just returned from Cyprus. According to Hezy Levy, the director general of the Ministry of Health,"most of the new cases are linked to clear chains of infection, some of which began with Israelis returning from abroad who did not respect the quarantine."
An indiscipline that provokes the anger of the inhabitants of the cities that have passed, according to the color code in force, from green to yellow, a serious contamination. Nitzan Horowitz, the new health minister, announced a sharp increase in fines for those who fail to comply with isolation measures. As for Israelis who would travel to countries that are now banned – Russia,India, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina – it could cost them 5,000 shekels (1,283 euros). At the airport, during check-in, travelers will now have to sign a document according to which they undertake not to travel to these countries where the pandemic is wreaking havoc.
Hard blow for tourism
One thing is certain: to try to contain the spread of the Delta variant as quickly as possible, Ben-Gurion International Airport is at the heart of the renewal of sanitary measures: since Wednesday, the wearing of masks is again mandatory, from entry to exit. The screening points will be multiplied and finally, the return of foreign tourists to Israel, initially planned for 1er July, is postponed by one month. This is bad news for the tourism industry.
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