Israel's Health Ministry Warns Lambda Variant's Arrival Will Spell Lockdown

Israel's Health Ministry warned Monday that the arrival of coronavirus variants from overseas could force the government's hand in imposing a lockdown that they are allegedly - according to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett - doing so much to avoid.

During a meeting of the Knesset (Israel Parliament) Constitution, Law and Justice Committee to approve new measures for travel from abroad, a top ministry official warned of the variant that has rampaged across South America and crossed into the US, reported The Times of Israel (TOI).

“If it arrives in Israel we will go into the lockdown that we are so much trying to avoid,” Asher Salmon, director of the International Relations Department at the Health Ministry, told the committee.

Salmon cautioned that the vaccines Israel has largely relied upon to date are less effective against this variant than even the delta.

Since June, Israel has witnessed a recrudescence of the coronavirus that had seemed largely under control, which has been blamed on the delta variant and thought to be worsened after Israelis arriving from abroad failed to quarantine properly.