COVID19: Cyprus placed on Israel’s travel ban

Israelis are banned from visiting Cyprus, one of their favourite holiday destinations, under new coronavirus rules introduced by Tel-Aviv.

Cyprus is suffering a fourth wave of coronavirus with record infection rates in four digits.

Under the new Israeli cabinet decision, the UK, Georgia, and Turkey join Cyprus on the list of banned countries.

The four countries will join a growing list of places that Israelis may not fly to; if caught doing so, they face a hefty $1,500 fine upon return and quarantine.

The decision will take effect from 30 July.

Turkey and Cyprus are two of the most popular vacation destinations for Israelis.

Israel is the island’s third-largest tourist market with a 7.4% share of the near four million arrivals pre-COVID-19.

Cyprus classifies Israel in its safest green category for COVID travel.

Israelis are already banned from travelling to Russia, Mexico, South Africa, India, Argentina, Brazil, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Spain, and Kyrgyzstan due to high COVID rates in those destinations.

Currently, vaccinated travellers arriving in Israel must quarantine for 24 hours or until they receive a negative result for a test taken upon landing — whichever comes sooner.

Unvaccinated travellers have to quarantine for seven days and receive a negative test when the week is over.

All those returning from high-risk countries are required to quarantine for a full seven days, even with a negative test result.

The full quarantine period was recently shortened from 10-14 days.