Netanyahu: Israel ‘perhaps better prepared than any other country’ for coronovirus

“We are as well prepared or perhaps better prepared than any other country,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says of Israel’s response to the global outbreak of the coronavirus.

Speaking on Army Radio, Netanyahu says, “So far we have succeeded in preventing the entry of the virus… I will do everything to prevent it from happening or to postpone it for as long as possible.”

The prime minister says that Israelis quarantined on the cruise ship Diamond Princess due to the spread of the coronavirus should have been released earlier.

They will arrive back in Israel on Thursday after Japanese authorities agreed for them to be taken straight to a plane that will fly them home.

The Health Ministry on Sunday said Israelis returning from four destinations in East Asia will now be required to self-quarantine for two weeks amid concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Travelers to Thailand, Singapore and the semi-autonomous Chinese cities of Hong Kong and Macau must remain in isolation, the ministry said. Previously, only travelers coming from China were subject to such a self-quarantine.

On Monday, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, on the advice of the Health Ministry, ordered that non-Israeli nationals from Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macau be denied entry to Israel, as a further precaution.