News Brief France, Switzerland latest to restrict entry to Israelis over country's high COVID rates

The list of countries in the European Union banning Israelis or restricting travel is growing.

France and Switzerland today announced it will permit entry only to vaccinated Israelis. Portugal banned all Israelis regardless of vaccination status, while Holland requires proof of vaccination.

Israel, one of the world's most highly vaccinated nations and already well into the booster shot campaign, saw a recent surge of COVID infections that made it the world's most infectious nation late this summer.

After setting record numbers of daily infections during the past few weeks for the entire pandemic, Israel recorded fewer positive cases yesterday at just over 7,800 but maintained a high positive rate of 6.31%.