The Israel Ministry of Health announced an expansion to its existing travel ban policy.

Starting on February 24, 2020, all non-residents or non-citizens who visited the countries of South Korea or Japan in the last 14 days before arriving in Israel, will be denied entry to the country.

This expansion follows previous travel guidance issued on February 16th for travelers from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Italy, Australia or Macau.

An example for these new travel ban policies was reported by the media on February 22nd.

A South Korean airliner that landed at Ben Gurion Airport was sent back to Seoul after the 12 Israelis on board were evacuated and quarantined.

According to new guidance from the Israel Ministry of Health:

Any person is suspected of having a COVID-19 disease infection if that person had close contact with a confirmed patient.

Or the person visited one of the above-mentioned destinations, and within 14 days after close contact with a confirmed patient.

Additionally, any person who has a fever 38C (100.4F) or higher, cough, has difficulty breathing or any other respiratory symptom within 14 days after visiting the above-mentioned destinations

Any person who meets these criteria must go to the nearest healthcare clinic or medical center.

But, call in advance and notify the staff of your pending arrival.

And, keep your nose and mouth covered with a facemask or another cloth, avoid close contact with people, avoid public transportation and follow the Ministry of Health's guidance.

Finally, if a person is required to ‘Quarantine’ at home, the People's Health Order 2020 mandates a 14-day duration.

Separately, on Saturday, Israel asked about 200 people who had been in close contact with a group of South Korean tourists recently to self-quarantine themselves.

The clinical knowledge concerning the new disease is not yet complete, says the Israel Health Ministry.

The data coming out of China indicates that the disease is benign in most cases.

Currently, available information suggests that the illness is more severe among older adults and people with an impaired immune system or chronic diseases.

A recent study published in The Lancet found the mortality of critically ill patients with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and being treated for COVID-19 pneumonia in China was reported to be over 60 percent.

At this time, there is no preventive vaccine available. Several groups around the world are attempting to develop a vaccine, yet an effective vaccine is not to be expected any time soon.

And there is currently no specific treatment for the novel coronavirus infection.

In a related action, the US issued a Level 2 Travel Alert for Japan on February 22, 2020.

Travel alert news is published by Vax-Before-Travel.