Israel to ban entry of foreigners from all countries over Omicron

Israel on Saturday said it would ban the entry of all foreigners into the country and reintroduce counter-terrorism phone-tracking technology in order to contain the spread of a new and potentially more contagious coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement that the ban, pending government approval, would last 14 days. Israel, the first country to shut its borders completely over the Omicron variant, has so far confirmed one case of the variant and seven other suspected cases.