Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Pandemic’s end: Israel to downgrade Covid to flu status

Those with the virus will no longer need to enter isolation, and responsibility for testing will be transferred from the IDF to the civilian health services.

Coronavirus testing near the northern Israeli town of Katzrin in the Golan Heights, on Feb. 21, 2021. Photo by Michael Giladi/Flash90.
Coronavirus testing near the northern Israeli town of Katzrin in the Golan Heights, on Feb. 21, 2021. Photo by Michael Giladi/Flash90.

Israel is set to declare the Coronavirus pandemic over, according to Hebrew media reports.

As of Jan. 18, the country’s civilian health system will assume responsibility for conducting Covid tests in place of the Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command.

Then, on Jan. 31, SARS-CoV-2 will be categorized as an influenza-like virus, according to Kan News. The pandemic control center will be closed, and Covid patients will no longer need to be isolated.

Professor Cyrille Cohen, a member of the Health Ministry’s advisory council for clinical Covid vaccine trials, told i24NEWS that the goal was to get the virus to an “endemic” stage, where it spreads at a typical or expected rate.

“We’re hoping that our health care system can cope with these winter infections, including Covid,” said Cohen.

“Upholding the integrity of our elections, and the right of American citizens to determine the outcome, is non-negotiable,” stated David Metcalf, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “Our democracy depends on it.”
PM says the IDF will apply its “aggressive” refugee-camp model in Hebron, evacuating residents and conducting house-to-house searches.
“I have spent much of my professional life working in and around the United Nations, and I have seen first-hand what determined diplomacy can achieve,” Lana Nusseibeh said.
Student organizers can still live-stream the lecture, which is to be delivered by a Columbia University professor.