Israeli officials on Wednesday decided to postpone the entry of international tourists from countries with low coronavirus rates for at least a month (August 1st at the earliest) over the recent surge of COVID-19 in Israel. A meeting was held between Prime Minister Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, and the decision was made. The announcement comes on the second consecutive day that Israel confirmed over 100 new coronavirus cases, the highest number since April. The country was set to begin reopening to individual foreign tourists on July 1, based on the Health Ministry’s outline, but two coronavirus outbreaks in schools in Binyamina and Modi’in have led to the daily number of COVID cases spike to the highest since April.

The Philippine president has threatened to order the arrest of Filipinos who refuse COVID-19 vaccination and told them to leave the country if they would not cooperate with efforts to end a public health emergency. President Rodrigo Duterte, who is known for his public outbursts and brash rhetoric, said in televised remarks Monday night that he has become exasperated with people who refuse to get immunized amid a health crisis then help spread the coronavirus. “Don’t get me wrong. There is a crisis being faced in this country. There is a national emergency. If you don’t want to get vaccinated, I’ll have you arrested and I’ll inject the vaccine in your butt,” Duterte said. “If you will not agree to be vaccinated, leave the Philippines.

Israeli health officials are considering reimplementing some coronavirus restrictions amid new coronavirus outbreaks around the country which are believed to be caused by the Indian variant. Some of the outbreaks in schools have been linked to Israelis who have returned from abroad, even those who have been vaccinated, and some of the Israelis who caught the new variant at home have been vaccinated. The Health Ministry on Sunday reinstated the requirement to wear masks in schools where outbreaks occurred, less than a week after the mask mandate was lifted. Itai Weisberg, the head of the Binyamina-Givat Ada local council, where one of the outbreaks occurred, told Reshet Bet on Monday morning that 76 residents have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Israel’s Health Ministry instructed people who attended a musical performance in Beit Shean on Thursday to enter quarantine after a woman in the audience was found to be positive for the coronavirus. Even Israelis who were vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus were asked to enter quarantine despite the fact that they are normally exempt from quarantine requirements, apparently due to fears that the woman is infected with the Indian variant, which is apparently more resistant to vaccines than other variants. Meanwhile, less than a week after Israel ended the requirement to wear masks indoors, the Health Ministry reinstated the mask mandate in schools in Modiin and Binyamina, where outbreaks of the Indian variant have occurred.

Israel is no longer requiring masks indoors, lifting one of its last coronavirus restrictions following a highly successful vaccination campaign. The restriction was lifted on Tuesday, though people will still be required to wear masks on airplanes and on their way to quarantine. Unvaccinated individuals must wear masks in nursing homes and other long-term health facilities. Israel has vaccinated around 85% of its adult population, allowing schools and businesses to fully reopen. There are only a few dozen active patients in the country of more than 9 million. Authorities have been cautious about welcoming visitors, however, because of concerns over new variants. Israel welcomed its first tour group late last month.

A highly contagious disease originating far from America’s shores triggers deadly outbreaks that spread rapidly, infecting the masses. Shots are available, but a divided public agonizes over getting jabbed. Sound familiar? Newly digitized records — including a minister’s diary scanned and posted online by Boston’s Congregational Library and Archives — are shedding fresh light on devastating outbreaks of smallpox that hit the city in the 1700s. And three centuries later, the parallels with the coronavirus pandemic are uncanny. “How little we’ve changed,” said CLA archivist Zachary Bodnar, who led the digitization effort, working closely with the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Jewish-Arab violence and riots have erupted in numerous cities that have a mixed population of Arabs and Jews across Israel. The violence comes at the end of the month of Ramadan and amid the escalated tensions between Israel and Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza. In Akko, a mob of Arab rioters attacked a Jewish man in his 30s and severely injured him.  The incident took place near Egged Square in the city and left the man in critical condition. Magen David Adom teams transported the man to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya and intubated and sedated him. According to a statement by the police, the man had been attacked while he was in his car and was beaten with rocks and sticks. Violence erupted once again in the city of Lod and a man was shot and seriously injured.

Pardes Hanna, a town near Haifa of about 45,000 residents, suffered a coronavirus outbreak this week and is now Israel’s only orange locale. Residents of the town are known for their “hippie” type lifestyles and many are opposed to being vaccinated against the coronavirus. Attorney Bar Kochva, a member of the Pardes Hanna-Karkur city council, told Ynet that there is a group of local residents, mostly aged 20-40, who are against the COVID vaccine and drove up the town’s infection rate. Pardes-Hanna also has a history of residents refusing to vaccinate their children for measles, which led to a large measles outbreak in 2018. The outbreak has led to the closure of 13 classrooms and three kindergartens in the town.

A new mass fundraising campaign aims to inspire 50 million people around the world to make small donations to Covax, the international effort to push for equitable global distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations. Called Go Give One, the campaign was launched Wednesday by the WHO Foundation and corporate, religious, and world leaders. Seed money for the effort was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The campaign will contribute to the $3 billion in Covax funding needed to vaccinate almost 30 percent of people in 92 low-income countries sometime next year. That support will come from donors like those who contribute to the Go Give One campaign as well as cost-sharing agreements.

Connecticut will no longer allow a religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges, and daycare facilities, becoming the sixth state to end that policy. The legislation was signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Ned Lamont, hours after the Democratic-controlled Senate passed the bill late Tuesday night. More than 2,000 opponents had rallied outside the state Capitol building, arguing the legislation unfairly infringes on their religious liberties and parental rights. “Proud to sign this bill into law to protect as many of our school children as possible from infectious diseases as we can,” Lamont said in a tweet, announcing he had signed the contentious bill. Shortly afterward, two groups opposing the legislation — We The Patriots USA, Inc.