Israel on Wednesday reintroduced restrictions on gatherings and reimposed social distancing measures in businesses as daily COVID-19 infections kept creeping up precipitously.
The new measures include the expansion of the Green Pass mandate, which requires people to present proof of vaccination or recovery at the entrance to public facilities, to include all Israelis from the age of 3.
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Woman holds up a phone with the Green Pass app open
(Photo: Raz Gross, Ido Erez, EPA)
This includes conferences, exhibitions, hotels, gyms and fitness studios, country clubs and public swimming pools, nightclubs, restaurants, cafes, academic institutions, tourist attractions, museums, libraries and nursing homes.
Entry would be allowed only to those who can show proof of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 or a negative coronavirus test.
Babies and toddlers aged 0–3 will be exempt from taking a COVID test. Children between the ages of 3–12, who are not eligible for a coronavirus vaccine, will have to take a virus test that will be paid for by the state.
Anyone over the age of 12 who has not been fully immunized against the virus or recovered from it will have to pay for tests out of pocket.
Unvaccinated Israelis will be required to present a negative coronavirus test from the past 24 hours upon entering geriatric institutions after a protests battle led by the Association of Nursing Homes.
Shopping malls and stores will be subjected to the Purple Pass, which sets a cap on the number of customers allowed in a business at any given time and strict hygiene protocols.
The rule will also apply to workplaces that have in-person contact with clients. Mass events will be limited to up to 1,000 participants indoors and up to 5,000 outdoors.
Gatherings in private residences will be limited to up to 50 people indoors and up to 100 people outdoors.
Israel had lifted almost all health restrictions in May following a rapid vaccination campaign, but the spread of the Delta variant has led to a surge in new COVID cases, prompting the government to bring back some curbs, including an indoor mask mandate.