Covid, Israel puts Italy and the US on the red list for travel

Ten new countries, including Italy and the United States, have been added in Israel to the red list of countries, where one cannot travel due to the Covid risk. Decided yesterday by the Council of Ministers, the measure was approved today by the deputies of the constitutional commission of the Knesset. The ban on travel to these countries will take effect at midnight and will last at least a week, Israeli media reported. The ten new countries added to the red list are Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, the United States, Switzerland, Turkey and Hungary. Until now, the United States had never appeared on an Israeli red list. At the start of the pandemic, a ban on all travel was decided and there was speculation that the Netanyahu government had preferred a general ban so as not to offend US President Donald Trump. The measure has a very strong impact on the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who also have American nationality. Israelis who want to travel to red list countries must apply for special permission from a government commission. Citizens or residents of Israel who return from one of these countries must remain in quarantine in state-run hotels until the first negative test. After that they must remain in isolation at home for seven days even if vaccinated. According to what the Jerusalem Post writes today, exceptions may be made for grandparents of foreign nationality in the event of important family events in Israel. The red list already included Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Finland, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, as well as South Africa and several African countries.