Israel on Sunday began officially enforcing the scanning of QR codes for Green Passes before holders of the digital certificate are allowed entry into facilities that must comply with the government program to contain the coronavirus.
The rule was schedule to take effect on October 1 but technical problems had slowed down implementation of the updated Green Pass mandate.
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The new Green Pass set to be scanned at entrances to all facilities
(Photo: Getty Images, Motti Kimchi)
According to the new rules, the QR code must be scanned by a Health Ministry app that compares the Green Pass information to the ID on file in order to prevent the use of fake certificates.
The new Green Pass will only be valid if the person received all three coronavirus vaccine shots, or two but if they had been administered less than six months ago; if the holder has recovered from COVID in the past six months, or if he or she had recovered from the pathogen more than six months ago but received at least one vaccine jab.
Those who have not been vaccinated or who have not recovered from COVID have the option to obtain a temporary Green Pass with a negative PCR test that is valid for 72 hours.
In the meantime, the Health Ministry said 734 people tested positive for COVID on Saturday - this is the first time in over three months that the reported tally of new, daily cases is less than 1,000.
After more than 44,000 tests had been conducted, the infection rate now stands at 1.63%.
The ministry said the number of seriously ill patients now stands at 388, of whom 157 are ventilated. The official death toll since the pandemic began now stands at 7,983.
In addition, more than 3.8 million Israelis have been jabbed with three vaccine doses so far.