Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz sent out a calming message on Sunday as the first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant were discovered in Israel, saying that the country has the new strain "under control" and that there is "no need for fear or panic."
"We assumed a new variant would show up. Thanks to our protective and enforcement measures, we located this variant quickly. We were among the first to detect and isolate it. The matter is under control, there’s no need for fear or panic," he said during a press conference following the introduction of the government's new measures to stamp out the spread of the pathogen.
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Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz during a press conference on Sunday
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
Israel on Sunday approved barring entry of foreign nationals into the country and the use of a controversial contact tracing technology as part of its efforts to clamp down on the new coronavirus variant.
The Health Ministry said that the coronavirus cabinet had authorized a raft of measures, including embargoing travel to 50 African countries, banning entry by foreigners and mandating self-isolation for all Israelis arriving from abroad.
During the press conference, the Health Ministry's Director of Public Health Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis said that health officials may consider restricting travel to additional countries if cases of Omicron are found in them.
She pointed to data from South Africa, where the variant had originated, showing that within 10 days, daily cases jumped from 200 to 2,000.
"Within several days, 75% of the cases detected were from Omicron," Alroy-Preis said.
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The Health Ministry's Director of Public Health Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
The government voted to bring back the emergency use of cell phone tracking for those who have tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant by the Shin Bet domestic security service.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel denounced the government's decision as an "unfortunate and illegal one" which goes against a High Court ruling from last March.
The group noted that epidemiological investigations have so far been found to be more effective and accurate than Shin Bet cell phone tracking.
But the Cabinet went ahead and gave formal approval to the measure, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett signed an emergency regulation putting it into effect.
“It should be emphasized that the use is restricted only to verified cases of the new strain. There will be blanket use for all verified cases as was done in previous waves of morbidity,” Bennett’s office said.
It said the emergency regulation would remain in effect until Thursday and will be scrapped in case of a "widespread outbreak" without specifying what the term meant.
Horowitz defended the revival of the tracking scheme while expressing his apprehensions.
"I’ve got a big problem with the use of tracking. I prefer that the Shin Bet deal with security matters and not civilian ones," he said, adding that "the implementation of Shin Bet tracking is very limited, temporary and has a lot of oversight."
Associated Press contributed to this article.