Israel to drop mask mandate on flights starting next week

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Israel will cancel its mask mandate on flights starting next Monday, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced Tuesday.

On Monday, the ministry said Israel will scrap all COVID testing requirements for arriving passengers from May 21.

The new regulations, revised in light of the declining rate of coronavirus infections in Israel, do away with PCR and rapid antigen tests for incoming travelers entering by air, land or sea. Travelers will still be asked to fill out an entry form 48 hours before boarding their flight.

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In late April, Israel dropped its indoor mask mandate, excluding high-risk places, such as hospitals, flights, nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

While the past week saw a slight increase in the virus’s infection rate, the Health Ministry does not consider the recent rise significant enough to take new measures.

Prof. Ran Balicer, the head of the research institute for Clalit Health Services and the head of the experts’ committee advising the Health Ministry on the pandemic explains that “The testing policy today has resulted in the calculated infection rate not representing the trends in morbidity in practice.”