Indians already living, working and studying in Israel can travel in and out of the country, said Ambassador of Israel to India Naor Gilon, after the Israeli government on Sunday banned all foreign nationals from entering the country due to emergence of new COVID-19 variant 'Omicron'.
"Indians can leave Israel as long as flights are available. Only permanent residents can enter Israel. So Indians who have been working, living, studying in Israel already can come in, no problem with that", Naor Gilon said.
Israel’s government Sunday banned all foreign nationals from entering the country and reinstated a controversial contact-tracing surveillance program as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant in its borders.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the ban, pending government approval, would last 14 days. Israel has so far confirmed one case of the potentially more infectious Omicron variant first detected in South Africa.
In addition to the entry ban for non-Israelis, a three-day mandatory quarantine would be required for all vaccinated Israeli nationals, and a seven-day quarantine for those who have not been vaccinated.
The ban will come into effect at midnight on Sunday. A travel ban on foreigners coming from most African states was imposed on Friday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the new variant is "of concern", with early evidence suggesting a higher re-infection risk.
Meanwhile, Australia and Austria reported their first cases of the variant, joining a group of countries including the U.K., Germany, Belgium, Israel and Italy that have detected a strain that authorities say could pose a greater risk of people falling ill with Covid-19 a second time and could be more transmissible than other variants.
