Rising pollution in Israel, new regulations

The Jewish government has re-established the obligation to visit restaurants, hotels, museums and libraries and to show a vaccination certificate or a negative PCR test to attend cultural and sporting events.

New health restrictions came into effect in Israel on Wednesday, recording the highest number of infections since January despite a large corona virus vaccination campaign.

The Jewish government has re-established the obligation to visit restaurants, hotels, museums and libraries and to show a vaccination certificate or a negative PCR test to attend cultural and sporting events.

The move applies to places of worship for more than 50 worshipers, the health ministry said in a statement, adding that the capacity in shops and shopping centers is now only seven people per square meter.

In the wake of the increase in the number of patients, some measures, such as wearing masks in closed public spaces and offices, were already in place by the authorities in July.

8,700 new positive cases on Tuesday

As of Tuesday, more than 8,700 new cases had been identified by health officials, the highest number since January. In June, only a few daily cases were detected.

Israel is one of the first countries to launch, in mid-December, thanks to an agreement with Pfizer Laboratory. .

The campaign has drastically reduced the incidence, but contaminants have increased again in recent weeks due to the spread of the delta variant in unvaccinated adults, but also in people who were vaccinated six months ago.

Last week the Hebrew state began giving a third dose of the vaccine to people 50 and older, despite calls from the World Health Organization to ban these booster doses as poor countries have lower vaccination rates.

Prime Minister Naphtali Bennett responded that the administration of this dose in Israel, which has a population of nine million, would not affect global stocks but rather allow the testing of the 3rd dose to be effective.

“The future of the country”

Naphtali Bennett said Wednesday at a news conference on television that she would like to avoid a new prison in September, where many Jewish holidays are celebrated, because “it will destroy the future of the country.”

He called on the Israelis to continue vaccinating, saying the country could “beat the delta.” “It’s close,” he said.

“The vaccine works, it’s true and scientific, it saves lives,” Mr Bennett said.

In total, more than 959,000 people have been affected in Israel, of whom nearly 6,700 have died. More than 5.4 million people received two doses of the vaccine, 58% of the population, and about 1.1 million people received the third dose.

On the Palestinian side, officials have also identified an increase in pollution from August 1, when the number of new daily patients from August 1, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

Of the five million people living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, only 432,000 Palestinians received two doses of the vaccine.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Godra lamented that only 11% of those who could be vaccinated were vaccinated, saying “the Gaza Strip has entered a third wave of epidemics.”