Jerusalem: The Ministry of Health of Israel submitted its recommendation to the government to classify Italy, the USA, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland and Turkey as countries on the red list. 

These countries will be classified as countries on the red list effective 22/12/2021 at midnight (on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday). 

These countries will be added to the red list of countries:

Uganda, Seychelles Islands, Angola, United Arab Emirates, Eritrea, Ireland, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Botswana, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Benin, Britain, Ghana, Gabon, Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Denmark, South Africa, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Zimbabwe, Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Tanzania, Liberia, Lesotho, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mali, Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, Norway, Nigeria, Niger, Namibia, Sao Tome e Principe, Somalia, Senegal, Sierra Leon, Saint Helen (Britain), Spain, Finland, Chad, France, Comoros, Cape Verde, Kenya, Cameroon, Réunion (France), Rwanda, Sweden. 

Criteria for the classification of the red list of countries: 

Reports of 10% prevalence of the Omicron variant based on genetic sequencing or SGTF; or

Prevalence of the Omicron variant among arrivals from that country at a rate of 5 confirmed cases per 10,000 arrivals, and the Omicron variant constituting more than 10% of all confirmed cases arriving from this country; or

Strong geographic link to countries with a prevalence of more than 10% 

All travellers returning from a country on the red list are required to complete the full isolation. 

All returning travellers who are not considered recovered according to the Ministry of Health’s definitions will be required to go into isolation in a managed isolation facility, until testing negative on the PCR test that they took upon arrival in Israel. After receiving a negative test result, they will be allowed to complete their isolation at home, as long as they are able to declare that nobody else lives or stays in their home.

Travelers returning from countries on the red list: 

• Protected travelers returning to Israel from countries on the red list, upon taking a PCR test at Ben Gurion International Airport will sign an informed consent form and will be ordered to go into home isolation for a period of 7 days, following which they will be required to take another PCR test. Upon receiving a negative result on this test, they will be released from isolation. 
• Unprotected travelers returning to Israel from countries on the red list, upon taking a PCR test at Ben Gurion International Airport will be ordered to go into isolation in a managed isolation facility until receiving their test result, following which: 
  • If their test result is negative, they will sign an informed consent form and will be ordered to go into home isolation for a period of 7 days, following which they will be required to take another PCR test. Upon receiving a negative result on this test, they will be released from isolation.
  • If their test result is positive, they will stay in the managed isolation facility until their recovery. 

Countries on the orange list – any country that is not on the red list. 

A country on the orange list is a country with a COVID-19 travel warning.

Travelers returning from countries on the orange list:

Recovered or vaccinated travelers will be allowed to be released from isolation upon receiving a negative test result on a PCR test starting from the 3rd day after arrival in Israel (the day of arrival is considered as the first day)

Non-recovered or unvaccinated travelers will be allowed to be released from isolation upon receiving a negative test result on a PCR test starting from the 7th day after arrival in Israel (the day of arrival is considered as the first day)

Countries on the yellow list – the list is empty.

A country on the yellow list is a country with low COVID-19 risk.