Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Vice President Mike Pence have agreed to work together toward battling the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Netanyahu and Pence discussed the virus by phone, according to Netanyahu’s office.
The two “agreed that in the coming weeks an Israeli team would hold continuing talks with an American staff on dealing with the coronavirus,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office says in a statement. “The talks will aim at increasing technology and science cooperation on the coronavirus, and the sides will discuss joint measures to deal with the challenges of the virus.”
US Vice President Mike Pence (L) greets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Fifth World Holocaust Forum at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem on January 23, 2020. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AFP)
The announcement comes a day after the Health Ministry hinted it could restrict entry from areas in the US with outbreaks, and then seemingly pulled back those plans.
Minister Yariv Levin told Army Radio earlier Sunday that the matter needed to be discussed soon.
An announcement planned for 7 p.m. is widely expected to include a decision on whether some US entries will be restricted.
The US has seen large outbreaks in the states of Washington, New York and California.
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