Ministry of Health issued a series of instructions to Israelis staying in the country • Litzman banned flights from China to land in the country, a plane from Beijing on its way to Ben Gurion Airport
Medical teams treat woman // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The Ministry of Health has published a series of new guidelines for Israeli citizens returning from China. The guidelines are also intended for short-stay passengers in the country.
According to the guidelines, which are intended for rehearsals in China, do not stay in public places and public spaces for 14 days. Absence from work will be considered absenteeism due to illness, as stipulated in an order issued by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health emphasizes that there is no need to contact a family doctor to get a leave of absence.
It was also emphasized that only those who develop cough or shortness of breath symptoms should go to the clinic. He must inform the staff in advance of my arrival and cover the face with a mask.
Today, in the afternoon, Minister of Health Jacob Litzman issued a directive stating that he bans aircraft landing from China. The guidance comes a day after Lufthansa, British Airways, EL AL and Hainan announced that they are suspending their flights from China to Israel and vice versa.
Following the decision, questions were raised about Israelis who are in China and who should return to Israel. It is estimated that there are several thousand Israelis currently in China. It is unclear how many of them are planning to return to Israel in the coming days, but airlines are facing a new and challenging situation.
El Al is currently planning to allow Israelis located in China to fly to Hong Kong and from there El Al will fly them to Israel. Another company that operates direct flights from Hong Kong to Israel is local Cathay Pacific.
Hainan is still trying to understand the new situation. The company announced that they were discontinuing flights from Beijing to Tel Aviv but intended to operate the line from Shenzhen to Tel Aviv, thus allowing passengers to arrive from China to Israel. Now, following Minister Litzman's decision not to land flights departing from China in Israel, the company is trying to cope with the situation and it is quite possible that many Israelis will have to find creative solutions to return to Israel. About four hours after Litzman's departure, Hainan's plane took off from Beijing towards Tel Aviv.
During the evening and night, meetings were held in the Upper Hospital, where representatives of the Ministry of Health, the HMOs, the Israel Aviation Authority, the Chief Medical Officer, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and MDA.
Discussions revealed that Israeli citizens who were in China would be allowed to return to Israel, and only the entry of Chinese citizens would be banned. This was after the briefing to reporters, Litzman emphasized that Chinese workers entering the New Year's holiday in China would be banned and scheduled to return to Israel.
A legal possibility was also considered to prevent the landing of a flight that took off tonight (the flight they did boarding ...) but no final decision has yet been made on the matter.