Israel will allow unvaccinated tourists back into the country again from the beginning of March.

The country’s prime minister Naftali Bennett announced the decision on Sunday, citing a downturn in the number of coronavirus deaths as the reason behind the relaxation of restrictions.

“We are seeing a constant decline in morbidity data, so it is time to gradually open up,” he said.

The country implemented strict border controls from early on in the pandemic, and tightened the rules once more at the end of 2021 in response to the Omicron variant.

From 1 March, both jabbed and unjabbed travellers will be permitted entry as long as they take two Covid tests: one before departure for Israel, and one upon arrival.

For the pre-departure test, a negative result from either a PCR (taken within the 72 hours before a flight to Israel) or an antigen (within 24 hours before the flight) test are acceptable.

On arrival in Israel, passengers must also take a PCR test at their own expense before leaving the airport.

All arrivals must enter home isolation until they receive the results of their PCR test, or until 24 hours have passed. If the result of the test is positive, the individual will be required to remain in home isolation for a minimum of 14 days (although this can be reduced by taking a second PCR test on day seven).

Now that the latest wave of infections is on the wane, with a sharp drop in new cases, entry requirements are also being eased further for returning Israelis – they will no longer be required to show a negative PCR test to board a flight home.

It follows the relaxation of entry restrictions and domestic Covid rules in countries around the world.

Today saw Australia open its borders to international tourists for the first time in two years.

The first arrivals, on a Japan Airlines flight from Tokyo and a Qantas flight from Los Angeles, touched down just after 6am on Monday.

It is the first time people have been able to visit from anywhere in the world since March 2020.

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