Israel on Sunday approved barring entry to foreign nationals and the use of controversial technology for contact tracing as part of its efforts to clamp down on a new coronavirus variant. The Health Ministry said in a statement that the country’s coronavirus cabinet had authorized a raft of measures, including red-listing travel to 50 African countries, banning entry by foreigners and mandating quarantine for all Israelis arriving from abroad. It also approved use of the Shin Bet internal security agency’s controversial phone monitoring technology to perform contact tracing of individuals confirmed with the new omicron variant of coronavirus in Israel.

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Sunday slammed the Israeli government’s new restrictions intended to thwart the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, saying that he thinks that they’re unnecessary. Israel has banned tourists from entering the country for two weeks, lengthened mandatory quarantine from 24 to 72 hours, and is allowing the Shin Bet to track down those who were exposed to the Omicron variant. Sa’ar said that he thinks that halting tourism will have “significant economic costs” and shouldn’t be done “without very very strong reasons.” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett admitted that the government’s steps are “severe” but he feels they are necessary.

Australian officials confirmed Sunday that two overseas travelers arriving in Sydney are the first to test positive in the country for the omicron variant of the coronavirus, as nations around the world tightened controls against the worrying new strain. The two passengers were among a group of 14 others who arrived in Australia from southern Africa on Saturday, They were asymptomatic and were both vaccinated for COVID-19. The remaining 12 have been placed in quarantine. Neighboring New Zealand announced it was restricting travel from nine southern African countries because of the threat posed by the variant, and Japan widened its border controls to include more countries from the region.

Switzerland banned Israelis from entering its territory after the first case of the Omricon COVID variant was discovered in the Jewish state. Those with Swiss or EU passports will be allowed entry but will be required to quarantine for ten days. On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) named the new B1.1.529 COVID variant discovered in South Africa the “Omricon” and designated it as a “variant of concern” due to it being highly infectious.

Israel began vaccinating children aged five and above this week as experts warn that a fifth wave of the coronavirus in Israel has already begun. “We’re no longer between waves, we’re at the start of a wave,” coronavirus czar Prof. Salman Zarka said on Wednesday evening in an interview with Kan News. Zarka and senior Health Ministry officials report that there has been a rise in the number of COVID infections in the past week and most of the new cases are children who haven’t been vaccinated. The Health Ministry has warned that it may impose new restrictions on gatherings if the number of daily cases continues to increase. On that background, senior health officials gathered at the home of HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky on Thursday to discuss the campaign for the vaccination of children.

Israel’s Health Ministry responded to the report on the high rate of diabetes in the Chareidi sector published by Kol Chai this week. The Health Ministry stated: “Diabetes mortality data appear in a file of the Central Bureau of Statistics as part of the health profile of localities in Israel.

Sunday was World Diabetes Day and on Monday, Kol Chai published a report about the diabetes epidemic in the Chareidi sector in Israel, with the diabetes rate 36% higher in the Chareidi sector than in the general population. The largest disparity is among men aged 35-45, with 1 out of 42 Chareidi men in that age group suffering from diabetes versus 1 out of 75 men in the general population. These statistics are from the pre-coronavirus era, which means that the numbers are likely even higher today since studies have found that one of the post-COVID phenomena is an increase in diabetes.

The Austrian government ordered a nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated people starting midnight Sunday to slow the fast spread of the coronavirus in the country. The move prohibits unvaccinated individuals older than age 12 from leaving their homes except for basic activities such as working, grocery shopping, going for a walk — or getting vaccinated. Authorities are concerned that hospital staff will no longer be able to handle the growing influx of COVID-19 patients. “It’s our job as the government of Austria to protect the people,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg told reporters in Vienna on Sunday.

Wang Lijie planned to spend three days in the Gobi Desert last month to take in the area’s famous poplar forest as its trees turned a golden yellow. Instead, the Beijing resident has been stuck for more than three weeks, much of it in quarantine, after authorities discovered a cluster of COVID-19 cases in a nearby city. He was among more than 9,000 tourists who became trapped in Ejin Banner, a remote part of China’s Inner Mongolia region that is in the Gobi. As vaccination rates rise in many parts of the world and even countries that previously had strict COVID-containment strategies gingerly ease restrictions, China is doubling down on its zero-tolerance policy.

A leading anti-vaxxer in Israel who died of COVID in September was advised by anti-vax doctors to refuse standard medical treatment even as he lay on his deathbed, Channel 12 News reported on Sunday. Chai Shoulian, z’l, was hospitalized in Wolfson Hospital in Holon after he contracted COVID but his condition rapidly deteriorated and he eventually passed away. According to the report, a Health Ministry investigation revealed that during Shoulian’s hospitalization, he was in contact with several doctors outside the hospital who advised him to refuse the treatment the hospital doctors offered him and try alternative treatments instead such as breathing exercises, vitamins, and inhaling the steam of tea. These doctors have previously advised Shoulian not to get vaccinated against COVID.