The Health Ministry expects around 240 Israelis to return from visits to the UAE with positive COVID-19 diagnoses during the month of December, based on statistics from November, Haaretz reported on Sunday evening.
Health Ministry data showed that out of the 1,658 Israelis who visited the UAE last month, nine returned positive for the novel coronavirus – a little more than half a percent (0.54%).
In December, however, the massive influx of Israeli tourists to the UAE has already increased almost tenfold, with 15,000 having left the country for visits to the Emirati kingdom since the beginning of the month, and around 70,000 expected to visit over the Hanukkah holiday.
The increase is also due to the ministry's slightly controversial decision last week to keep the UAE's COVID tourism status as green, saying that the relatively low morbidity rate in the kingdom is not expected to severely impact Israel's more than four times as much higher COVID-19 morbidity (0.8% and 3.4% respectively, as of Sunday).
Tourists entering the UAE must present a negative coronavirus test from the previous 72 hours and take another test upon arrival, though cramped flights have some worried that many Israelis would catch the disease on the plane, leaving tests unable to detect the virus so close after infection.
A Health Ministry source told Haaretz that despite the UAE's stringent COVID-19 restrictions and high testing numbers, he believes that, "as soon as the Israelis come, it is enough for one to get there sick and then there is no end to it."
Another source within the ministry said that "Israelis tend not to follow the guidelines abroad. They travel in large groups and do not adhere to the social distancing guidelines or wear a mask. In addition, there is a very high rate of isolation violation among people returning from abroad, and it is very difficult to enforce."
The next Health Ministry reevaluation of the issue is expected next week. There are currently 19 green states, to which Israelis can travel and return without entering quarantine. These include South Korea, Fiji, Japan, Thailand, Rwanda, Cuba, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Uruguay, Seychelles, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, China, Bahrain, Vietnam and the UAE.