Israel will require any travelers arriving in the country from New York, California and Washington state to self-quarantine for 14 days in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, according to Israeli media.

Army Radio reported that health officials decided on the new regulations on Saturday night and would soon be making a formal announcement.

The outlet said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office had heard about the decision through the media but had not confirmed it.

Dan Benjamin of Tel Aviv - who returned to Israel from New York on Saturday evening - told DailyMail.com he has not yet been asked to quarantine.

He said he was informed by Israeli authorities that he and his fiancée might be asked to self-isolate in the coming days. The couple have stocked their fridge in preparation.

Israel will require any travelers arriving in the country from New York, California and Washington state to self-quarantine for 14 days in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, local media reported Sunday. Israeli citizens are seen wearing protective masks as they wait to cast votes in the legislative election last week in Jerusalem

Israel will not be banning any flights under the new regulations, despite officials previous indications that they were considering a travel ban for the US, according to the Army Radio report.

The report also said that officials had reversed their decision to require people to enter quarantine if they attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington, DC, last week.

Some 80,000 Israeli citizens are said to be in voluntary quarantine for 14 days after 25 coronavirus cases were confirmed in the country.

One of those patients, 38-year-old bus driver, is in serious condition.

Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed grave concern over the coronavirus outbreak earlier on Saturday.

'First of all, this is a global pandemic, whether the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) calls it such or not,' Netanyahu said.

'It is doubtful whether there has been a similar pandemic in the last 100 years. It seems that the rate of infection is greater than we figured.'

He went on: 'The assumption that the virus will disappear or evaporate in hot weather is unproven. At the moment, this has no basis that we can build on. The virus is currently spreading to Africa.

'There is no vaccine and anti-viral drugs are ineffective. Economies are starting to be hurt. Governments are ordering their gates closed. This is important for the supply of products for all economies. Nobody knows how the pandemic will end.'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed grave concern over the coronavirus outbreak on Saturday, hours before the nation reportedly decided to quarantine all people who recently traveled to New York, California and Washington state

Israel has already imposed travel bans on 11 countries: Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macau), South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Singapore.

Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin on Sunday morning said that national officials were working with American officials as they considered banning travelers who recently visited the US.

He noted that 'such a decision has internal significance in the US' and said: 'It's important to work on this issue in collaboration with the Americans.'

Levin's remarks came hours after the director-general of Israel's Health Ministry, Moshe Bar Siman Tov, said officials were making decisions on a state-by-state basis.

Bar Siman Tov spoke to Channel 12 on Saturday night and indicated that California, New York and Washington state could be added to the quarantine list.

Other Western nations - including Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands - are also being considered for quarantine, Bar Siman Tov said, adding that the health ministry is cooperating with the National Security Council.

All Israelis who attended the AIPAC Policy Conference last week in Washington and returned to the country after March 5 were previously said to have been ordered to immediately enter isolation at home.

That decision, which has apparently been reversed, came after at least two people in New York and one in California tested positive after attending the 18,000-person conference, which ran from February 28 to March 2.

A spokesperson for AIPAC said he did not know how many Israelis attended the conference.

The pro-Israel organization called for all conference participants to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and consult with their health care providers if they feel ill or have medical questions.

'If you test positive for coronavirus, we urge you to inform your local health authorities, so they can properly coordinate their response to this situation with the appropriate health authorities,' the pro-Israel organization said.

The DC Department of Health issued a statement Friday saying that it was investigating alongside the New York State Department of Health (NYSDH) and that: 'There is no identified risk to conference attendees at this time.'

All Israelis who attended the AIPAC Policy Conference last week in Washington, DC, and returned to the country after March 5 were previously said to have been ordered to immediately enter isolation at home.

The AIPAC issued this statement about the coronavirus cases on Friday

Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were among the speakers.

Pence and Dr Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health appeared to have been caught unaware of the positive tests in the two AIPAC attendees.

Asked at a White House briefing if he was concerned that the coronavirus was now in Washington, Pence said: 'It's the first I heard of it amidst a busy day – and we will be engaged, I am confident, with the same contact tracing like with any case.'

Dr Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health called contact tracing - the process of trying to find out whom the person had been in contact with - 'the public health weapon'.

Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus, was the keynote speaker at the AIPAC conference

The number of coronavirus cases in the US surpassed 400 over the weekend, with the national death toll standing at 19.

On Saturday night, 31 states and the District of Columbia reported at least one confirmed or presumptive positive case, with those cases totaling 372.

Including those infected people repatriated from abroad, and those trapped aboard the quarantined cruise ship Grand Princess off San Francisco, the total is at least 437.

Washington state had the most cases with 103, including 16 deaths, followed by New York with 89 cases and California, with 81 cases and one death. Florida, which reports 11 cases, has also seen two fatalities.

In the interior of the country, a number of more sparsely populated states reported their first cases on Saturday, including Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota and Nebraska.