Israel shows the way on Covid-19

Israel’s success in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic offers an encouraging window into how it is possible that all quarantine restrictions on the disease may be lifted in the future. While Australia moves from seven-day to five-day mandatory isolation for people infected with the virus, the Covid response in Israel is now practically the same as for influenza. As Natasha Robinson reports on Friday, former Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation co-chairman Allen Cheng says it is likely Australia will follow Israel’s example.

Australia’s high rate of voluntary vaccination has helped to provide the conditions for this to happen. The experience in Israel is that a combination of vaccination and exposure to the virus provides robust ongoing resilience. Professor Cheng says the dual impact of vaccination and exposure has taken the edge off the severity of infection so that even if people get sick they don’t end up in hospital anywhere near the same extent as they did before.

Professor Cheng is part of a high-powered delegation of Australian health officials visiting Israel that also includes the Doherty Institute’s Sharon Lewin, NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant and SA chief health officer Nicola Spurrier. The Israel visit is a good example of the international collaboration being applied to managing Covid-19. While the current easing of quarantine restrictions in Australia is welcome, health officials and politicians must remain focused on how to achieve a full return to pre-Covid normality. Israel is helping to show the way.