COVID-19: Don’t need masks, says vaccinated Israel

Israel has lifted a public mask mandate and fully reopened its education system in the latest easing of Coronavirus restrictions following its mass vaccination drive All primary and secondary school grades returned to classrooms on Sunday and health officials ended a yearlong requirement to wear a mask in public spaces Masks are still required indoors and in large gatheringsIsrael has speedily inoculated a majority of its population against the Coronavirus in a worldleading vaccination campaign It has lifted most of its Coronavirus restrictions and announced last week that it would be reopening the country to vaccinated foreign tourists starting in MayIsraelrsquos Coronavirus czar Nachman Ash told Israeli public radio on Sunday that removing the mask requirement outdoors and reinitiating inclass studies was a ldquocalculated riskrdquo Since the start of the pandemic last year Israel has recorded over 836000 cases of the Coronavirus and at least 6331 deaths according to the Health MinistryOver 53 per cent of its 93 million citizens has received two shots of the PfizerBioNTech vaccine In the months since Israel launched its vaccination campaign in December serious cases and deaths have fallen precipitously and allowed the economy to fully reopen The vaccination campaign in the Israelioccupied West Bank and Gaza has been slow to get off the ground with Israel facing criticism for not sharing more of its suppliesFrance puts entry restrictionsThe French government on Sunday announced the tightening of entry restrictions from Argentina Brazil Chile and South Africa because of concerns about new variants of the Coronavirus A 10day compulsory quarantine will apply to people entering the country from these countries starting from next week reports dpa news agency The measure will also apply to air travellers from its overseas territory of French GuianaPak to vaccinate 5059 year oldsPakistanrsquos National Command and Operation Centre NCOC has announced its decision to start the vaccination of people in the 5059 age group against COVID19 from April 21 it was reported on SundaylsquoAZ jabrsquos safety fears affecting confidencersquoThe regional health authorities in Italyrsquos Lombardy region have said that public confidence in the countryrsquos use of the AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine has been hindered by the jabrsquos safety fears Giovanni Pavesi directorgeneral of the Lombardy Region Welfare Department said on Saturday that reports of health concerns tied to the AstraZeneca vaccine have resulted in people turning it down reports Xinhua news agencylsquoAustralians can travel quarantine on returnrsquoVaccinated Australians could be allowed to travel overseas and quarantine at home on their return before the ldquovast majorityrdquo of the population has been inoculated against COVID19 a minister said on Sunday As of Sunday morning there has been 148 million vaccines administered in Australia reports Xinhua news agency805794No of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours140849925Total no of cases worldwide3013217Total no of deaths worldwideThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever