The U.S. remains on Israel's no-fly list despite the number of banned countries being reduced from 69 to 15, it was reported on Wednesday.
Canada and the United Kingdom also remain off limits as Israel tries to stop the spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant, according to The Times of Israel.
The changes went into effect at midnight Tuesday, the Times said.
Israel’s "coronavirus cabinet" accepted the recommendations of a Health Ministry committee, and removed 54 countries from the list of destinations deemed "red" and requiring special permission to fly to or from.
Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Germany, and the Scandinavian nations, as well much of Africa, were removed from the list. Those countries now are classified as "orange" countries — destinations with a travel warning, but no formal restrictions.
Joining the U.S., the U.K., and Canada on the "red" list are France, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, and Mexico, which was added Tuesday.
The changes came after Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said Sunday that Israel would soon remove many restrictions on airline travel to and from the country that were imposed to slow the new strain’s arrival.
The cabinet also approved a measure saying that elementary school children who have a classmate test positive will move to either outdoor or distance learning.
The Health Ministry earlier Tuesday announced the death of a woman from a suspected omicron infection. It was said she had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and had received a booster shot.
If verified, it would mark the country's first fatality due to omicron.
The ministry also confirmed more than 600 additional cases of the variant, bringing the number of omicron infections in Israel to 1,741. The department added that more than 1,000 of the confirmed omicron carriers came from abroad.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the move to curtail travel between Israel and other countries bought five weeks of breathing room before the expected omicron onslaught, and will allow the economy to keep humming.
"This gave us an advantage over other countries, which are fighting omicron and delta at the same time," Bennett said, the Times reported. "The alternative was to act like the Netherlands, with a full lockdown.
"Our goal is to leave the economy open and markets open and stores open as much as possible, while avoiding stretching hospitals beyond capacity. If we wanted, we could have locked down, but nobody wants to get to a de facto lockdown by calling it another name."
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