Israel on Tuesday announced that the mandate to enforce the wearing of face masks indoors will be lifted from June 15 onwards, as the coronavirus cases in the country are decreasing. However, people will still require to wear masks while traveling by plane and in quarantine.
At the same time, those who have not yet been vaccinated will be required to wear masks in nursing homes and hospitals. Israel has vaccinated about 85% of its adult population. As a result, it has been able to fully reopen schools and businesses. In this country with a population of 90 lakhs, the number of active cases has remained only a few dozen. However, the officials are very cautious about the tourists.
However, the Ministry said that some people have to wear masks to contain COVID spread. These include non-vaccinated or non-recovered workers or guests at welfare institutions, long-term care facilities or homes for the elderly, individuals en route to quarantine, and travelers on a flight.
On June 13, Israel started its vaccine drive for children aged 12 to 15, with 600,000 eligible for vaccination. The move came six months after Israel began its vaccination drive for adults, and after the US Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the age group. On June 6, the then Health Minister said that if there was no unexpected increase in the number of coronavirus infections, then on June 15, the mandatory wearing of masks at closed places would be abolished, Xinhua reported. At the peak of the pandemic, there were 88,000 active cases in Israel; as of Monday, there were 212 active infections and 29 people in serious condition.