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Wow: Israel Announces 14 Day Quarantine for All Visitors

4 years ago
3 Comments
by Charlie
WOW Israel
Written by Charlie

Israel just announced a 14 day quarantine for all international arrivals and will be turning back non-permanent residents when this goes into effect.

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.

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:

All people entering Israel from abroad will be required to spend 14 days in home-isolation, the prime minister said Monday. The measure is effective immediately for Israelis and will go into effect for foreigners in 72 hours.
The isolation requirement applies to both Israelis and foreign travelers alike. No non-citizens will be able to enter Israel without proving they have a place to stay out their quarantine.
So, non residents will not even be allowed to enter. It will not go into effect until Thursday afternoon, Israel time. That is just for foreigners – for Israelis, it goes into effect immediately.

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.

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

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3 Comments

  • 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.