Coronavirus Outbreak Has No Effect On Tourism In Israel - Official

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2020) OSCOW, February 14 (Sputnik), Yekaterina Shcherbakova - Coronavirus is not seriously affecting the flow of tourists in Israel, as the number of Chinese tourists that visit the country is low, Vladimir Shklyar, the head of the Israeli Tourism MOSCOW (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 14th February, 2020) inistry's office in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), has told Sputnik in an interview.

"While everyone expresses concerns over coronavirus, we see the increase in tourists. Actually, coronavirus has not affected tourism in Israel because the number of tourists from China was only 3 percent," Shklyar said.

In late January, Israel suspended flights to and from China and restricted entry for those who have visited China and are not Israeli citizens amid the coronavirus outbreak in the Asian country.

In addition, the government has announced that Israeli citizens returning from China would be quarantined for 14 days.

Israel also barred 32 Chinese tourists from entering Israel and put them on a returning flight shortly after landing in early February.

"There is no reason for concern. Israel is keeping the situation under control," Shklyar added smiling.

The 2019 novel coronavirus, officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, originated in China and has spread to more than 20 other countries, alarming public health authorities across the world. More than 64,000 confirmed cases of the infection, including over 1,380 deaths, have been reported across the world.

The outbreak has prompted multiple countries to halt air traffic to and from China, and provoked fears of economic losses caused by the decreasing numbers of Chinese tourists.