International arrivals to Israel who have been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 will still need to test the virus negatively to avoid quarantine, the government announced on Tuesday.
Travelers will have to test negative for the virus for 72 hours before taking off on their return flight to Israel, and test negative again on arrival in Israel, to test out of quarantine, according to a joint statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office. the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport.
If one of the two tests is positive, the traveler must be quarantined at home.
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If someone comes in contact with a confirmed virus carrier, they must isolate for ten days and test negative twice before flying, the statement said.
Health officials probably made the decision because they feared that vaccinated individuals could still carry and spread the virus, and because of the fear of new virus variants entering the country.
The virus testing laboratory at Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s most important international airport, is currently out of order but can perform 20,000 tests a day, Channel 12 reported.
Ben Gurion Airport has been almost completely closed since January 25 because Israel is trying to prevent the import of new coronavirus variants that have contributed to the latest, relentless increase in the number of cases.
On Friday, the government extended the closure until at least February 20.
Israel and Greece on Monday announced an agreement to recognize each other’s “green passports” so that the vaccinated can travel freely between the two countries.
Hebrew media speculated that the deal would take effect shortly after the Passover holiday, which begins at the end of next month.
Israel is also negotiating an agreement with the United Kingdom and Estonia on a travel corridor between the countries for vaccinations, according to Army Radio. Monday’s report states that the talks have been going on for several days.
The Ynet news site reports that Israel is also negotiating similar agreements with Romania, Serbia, Cyprus, Georgia and Seychelles.
Israel’s third nationwide exclusion to limit the spread of COVID-19 was eased slightly at 7 a.m. Sunday, after more than a month.
Israel continues to struggle with a high daily infection rate, despite the exclusion and the vaccination campaign, which leads the world in per capita vaccination.