At the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that due to the recent spike in coronavirus infections, the government was considering reinstating some aspects of the so-called Green Pass system that differentiates between vaccinated and unvaccinated Israelis in terms of access to certain venues and activities.
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"Without cooperation [from the public], and in case the morbidity rate continues to climb, we will consider reinstating certain aspects of the Green Pass," Bennett said.
The cause behind the latest rise in morbidity, experts say, can be attributed to the arrival of the delta strain to Israel. Of the 38,938 Israelis screened for the virus in the last 24 hours, 185 people (0.5%) tested positive. There are currently 2,455 active cases in the country.
The Health Ministry has recorded 842,749 coronavirus cases, including 6,429 deaths, since the global pandemic erupted in March 2020.
"One must understand that the delta variant is more contagious than all other previous strains," Bennett said, and vowed the government would do its utmost to protect its citizens.
Meanwhile, Ben Gurion Airport, which has struggled for weeks to cope with the overwhelming amount of arrivals, crowdedness and long lines, has set up an additional vaccination site that could speed up the airport's inoculation capability up to 2,500 tests per hour.
"The additional testing site at Ben Gurion airport is crucial for maintaining public health and preventing viruses from being brought into Israel," Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli said.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz also lauded the opening of the new site.
"Increasing Ben-Gurion Airport's testing capabilities ahead of the summer is an essential tool in protecting the health of Israelis," he said. "The defense establishment will continue to help curb the pandemic, as it has done from the beginning, and aid the government in any other national effort required to protecting Israelis."
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In the meantime, health officials are also considering administering a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine to people with weakened immune systems, Hebrew-language news outlets reported on Friday.
According to Israeli public broadcaster Kan News, some officials are concerned about data showing that the vaccine has been less effective in protecting immunocompromised people, including organ transplant recipients and cancer patients.
Officials are also considering administering such booster shots for the elderly, although medical history rather than age appears to be the most influential factor at the moment, the reports said.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
