By KTA News Team |
The Israeli National COVID-19 headquarters reported that
“Minister Deri accepted the recommendations of the professional level and ordered to continue monitoring the morbidity data. Alongside this, it was decided to order foreign airlines to board foreign citizens on flights from China to Israel only subject to a Covid-19 test”
The order is effective on an immediate basis. According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) instrctions, passengers who have been in China (People’s Rep.) in the past 7 days must have a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken at most 72 hours before departure.
This does not apply to:
– nationals and permanent residents of Israel;
– passengers with an A5 visa issued by Israel;
– spouses and children younger than 18 years of nationals and permanent residents of Israel;
– passengers who have only transited through China (People’s Rep.) for less than 12 hours.
The Israeli National COVID-19 headquarters explain that the logic behind the decision is that in Israel the proportion of vaccinated people is greater than in China, and vaccination helps prevent infection, although not completely.
By making these restrictions, Israel joins the United States, Canada, Japan, and France that insisting all travelers from China provide negative COVID tests before arrival, as concerns grow over a surge in cases.