news brief Israel to officially recognize the end of the COVID-19 pandemic

Israel bids farewell to the COVID-19 pandemic in January, as Israel transfers its government-run testing facilities to the country’s health care services.

By the end of next month, the once deadly virus will be downgraded to a regular virus with properties similar to that of the flu. Additionally, there will no longer be a quarantine demand for anyone suffering from COVID-19.

The decision to suddenly move the virus management to the country’s health care providers has left many in the sector feeling ill-prepared to take on the burden without an enhanced budget and more time to plan for the extra task they inherited at a time when flu cases are at their highest peak.

Israeli Ministry of Health advisor Cyrille Cohen was a proponent of downgrading the pandemic to “endemic,” saying he believes that Israeli society has learned to live with the virus and noting that COVID-19 cases have remained at a fairly steady rate for many months.

The planned downgrade is predicated on approval by the incoming government as well as on having no significant rise in cases.