Israel will host the Miss Universe beauty pageant as planned next month despite imposing travel restrictions in a bid to stave off the Omicron strain of the coronavirus, the tourism minister said on Sunday.
The 70th Miss Universe pageant is being staged in the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat on December 12.
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Noa Cochva, Israel's representative to the 2021 Miss Universe Pageant
(Photo: Sason Moshe )
Yoel Razvozov said participants in the contest will be granted waivers from the curbs while possibly being subject to PCR testing every 48 hours and other precautionary measures.
Israel announced on Saturday it was banning the entry of foreigners into the country in an effort to contain the highly mutated new strain of the pathogen.
"This is an event that will be broadcast in 174 countries, a very important event, a event that Eilat, too, is very much in need of," Razvozov told reporters.
"We will know how to manage this event. So, by using the waivers committee, we will have events like this, to which the country already committed itself and which we cannot cancel."
The decision to hold the pageant in Israel was seen as controversial, with a contestant from Greece boycotting the event and the South African government withdrawing its support for its representative after she refused to pull out of the contest amid calls for a boycott to show support for the Palestinian people.