Israel Considers Reviving "Immunity Certificates" Amid Signs of COVID-19 Resurgence

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Israeli government announced that it is considering reinstating quarantine measures such as verifying immunity certificates, which had been lifted earlier, as signs of a resurgence due to the COVID-19 Delta variant have appeared. Israel, which has the highest vaccination rate in the world, is showing signs of strengthening quarantine measures, causing other countries' health authorities to be on alert.

According to local media including The Times of Israel on the 4th (local time), Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated at a cabinet meeting that "if public cooperation is not achieved and the COVID-19 infection rate continues to worsen, we will consider restoring restrictions through the 'Green Pass'." The Green Pass refers to the immunity certificate issued in Israel to those who have completed vaccination or recovered from infection.

Israeli authorities had previously implemented quarantine measures restricting unvaccinated individuals from entering public places through the Green Pass system, but lifted these restrictions earlier last month as vaccination rates significantly increased. Subsequently, the indoor mask mandate was also lifted on the 15th of last month; however, as the spread of the Delta variant worsened, the number of confirmed cases recently surged sharply to around 300 per day.

On the 2nd, the number of confirmed cases was 326, and even on the Sabbath holiday of the 3rd, the number reached 185, causing health authorities to be on alert. Some experts have warned that if quarantine measures similar to those previously implemented are not enforced, the daily number of confirmed cases could surge to the 1,000 range within the next two weeks.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.