Israeli ministry urges nixing travel ban amid omicron surge

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s health ministry says the government’s ban on travel from certain coronavirus-ravaged countries should be a thing of the past. The Health Ministry on Thursday recommended canceling travel bans and relaxing other testing requirements as the super-contagious omicron variant sweeps the world. The decision removes all countries from Israel’s “red” no-travel list, including the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, Tanzania, Mexico, Switzerland and Turkey. Under the recommendations, vaccinated and recovering travelers to Israel can leave quarantine after receiving a negative test result or after 24 hours. Unvaccinated people can leave quarantine after testing negative twice, on landing and after a week of isolation.