After many reports coming out over the course of the weekend from Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally made the call – 14 day quarantine for all arrivals from abroad.
Israel Announces 14 Day Quarantine for All International Arrivals
Israel has steadily seen the number of infected people inch up over the last week. It is still a smaller amount than many other countries (at present, 42 people) but Israel has decided that they want to take an enormous step to keep it out of the Israel.
And quarantining all international arrivals for a 14 day period is a huge step for a nation that relies so heavily on tourism. Basically, the tourist market for the next two weeks or more in Israel is going to take a dive.
אחרי יממה של דיונים מורכבים קיבלנו החלטה: כל מי שיגיע לישראל מחו”ל ייכנס לבידוד של 14 יום.
זו החלטה קשה, אבל היא חיונית כדי לשמור על בריאות הציבור – ובריאות הציבור קודמת לפני הכל.
ההחלטה הזאת תהיה בתוקף לשבועיים, במקביל אנחנו מקבלים החלטות כדי לשמור על כלכלת ישראל. pic.twitter.com/5qYFRW3AaC
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) March 9, 2020
To see the translation, visit the Twitter link to translate.
Here is what he said:
“After a day of complex discussions, we made a decision: Everyone who comes to Israel from abroad will enter the 14-day isolation,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement Monday. “This is a tough decision, but it is essential to maintain public health – and public health precedes everything.”
Here is how this will work, according to the Jerusalem Post:
I was scheduled to fly to Israel next Thursday for the marathon (which has been postponed) but that is obviously not happening now! The tough thing is that I know of many tour groups that were headed to Israel for the marathon and were still going to go regardless. Now, this will likely not be happening.
If you had plans to visit Israel in the next two weeks, contact your air carrier you are booked with to talk about options since you will not be allowed to enter the country after Thursday afternoon. This will also give time to cancel hotel reservations.
Darn, darn, darn. Family trip planned there in 3 weeks. Booked with AA miles on different reservations with different itineraries. Hoping I can get the miles redeposited without a huge fee.
Oh that stinks! I am doing some checking today and will have a post tomorrow with some suggestions for those with trips to Israel. My guess is that there will be some guidance from AA on this by Thursday. The 3 weeks part is a bit tough since the period is only 2 weeks right now but just sit tight for a few days and we will see! So sorry about the trip though!
The pandemic COVID19 pathogen is going to be around longer than two weeks. Most visitors ain’t gonna go to Israel, book a hotel to stay put for 2 weeks. Not. The contagion is sweeping Europe and the U.S., from where Israel sees its most visitors. This will play out for March into April and possibly the early part of May – or longer. No one really knows. Israel is essentially a locked off Island now.