The head of Israel's coronavirus task force Prof. Nachman Ash on Wednesday ruled out the possibility the country would enter another lockdown for the time being as cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant shot up in recent weeks.
He reserved, however, that if serious COVID-19 cases continue climbing in a manner that would endanger the Israeli healthcare system, authorities would have to take drastic measures to prevent the virus from spreading further.
Prof. Ash, who was also recently tapped by Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz to become the ministry's next director-general, said that so far, health officials do not consider reinstating the outdoor mask mandate.
According to him, most Israelis hospitalized with COVID-19 were over the age of 60 and the number of cases remained relatively low, but the trajectory of the pandemic in Israel could quickly change as first cases of the new strain were detected among the country's ultra-Orthodox and Arab sectors which tend to live in close quarters.
Ash also called on those who have yet to get vaccinated against coronavirus to do so since greater vaccination rates would help the country stave off the spread of the highly virulent strain.
He noted that per Prime Minister Bennet's request, the ministry was looking into shortening the isolation period for those exposed to a confirmed COVID-19 patient or inbound travelers from abroad.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Coronavirus Cabinet ruled that all arrivals from abroad will have to get tested for the pathogen upon landing in Israel and self-isolate until receiving a negative answer.
The ruling was part of several measures suggested by the Health Ministry and approved by the ministerial panel to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant which also include quick virus testing at the entrance to geriatric institutions and summer camps hosting over 100 children.
Coronavirus testing at geriatric institutions and summer camps will be subsidized by the state while arrivals from abroad will have to pay for tests out of pocket.
At the end of a three-hour meeting at Bennett's office in Jerusalem, the virus Cabinet was adjourned without imposing any new restrictions on Israeli society as panel members deemed them "unnecessary at this stage."
The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that virus Cabinet members decided to press on with their current "soft holding action" strategy that aims to rein in the virus while causing minimal disruptions to daily life in Israel and the economy.
Meanwhile, Israel on Wednesday reported over 500 new daily coronavirus cases, diagnosed a day earlier, for the second day in a row.
The Health Ministry said 521 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. After more than 85,429 tests had been conducted, the national contagion rate now stands at 0.7%.
On Monday, 501 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19, the highest daily tally since March of this year.
The tally of serious cases has also gone up and now stands at 40, compared to 33 a day earlier. At least 16 patients are connected to ventilators.
Weizmann Institute of Science's Prof. Eli Waxman told Ynet on Wednesday he feared daily coronavirus diagnoses could soon shoot up to 3,000 and implored the political echelon to quickly reimpose some measures to curb the latest outbreak.