The Wave Of Infections Of The COVID-19 Omicron Variant Recedes, Israel Will Revoke The Green Pass Policy

Illustration of COVID-19 in Israel. (Wikimedia Commons/Talmoryair)

JAKARTA - Israel on Thursday announced it will soon lift its green pass policy, a condition that obliges a person to show proof of vaccination, recovery from COVID-19 or a negative COVID-19 test to enter some public places, further lifting restrictions when the tide of infection recedes.

The highly contagious Omicron COVID-19 variant of the coronavirus peaked in Israel towards the end of January, with daily cases hitting a record high of around 85.000. However, the number has steadily declined since then to around 21.000 on Wednesday.

"The wave has broken," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said at the start of discussions with health officials about the state of the pandemic in which he said the Green Pass was completely phased out.

Green Pass rules have been reduced on February 4. Since then, digital documents have to be shown for entry into places like nightclubs and celebration halls.

During the previous coronavirus wave, Israel adopted a 'Living with COVID' policy. This keeps the economy and schools open, although some sectors suffer and classes are severely disrupted by employees, customers, students, and teachers who fall ill or are isolated.

However, PM Bennett said parents were still obliged to test for COVID-19 twice a week for their children, with negative tests still required to visit nursing homes.

Although the Omicron variant has caused proportionately fewer severe infections and deaths than previous strains of the virus, the magnitude of the spike has put Israel's healthcare system under stress, impacting the quality of care.

Some scientists have criticized the government for easing restrictions over the past month, rather than taking more action to slow down the Omicron variant.

To note, Israel, with a population of 9.4 million people, has recorded around 3.5 million cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, with more than 9.700 deaths. Some experts estimate that up to half the population may have been infected by Omicron.