Covid: Outdoor mask-wearing no longer required in Israel as infection drops

Amid a drop in COVID-19 infection rates in Israel, the country's Health Ministry has cancelled the mandatory wearing of face masks in the open-air, starting Sunday.

"In light of the morbidity figures that continue to be low throughout the country ... Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Prof. Hezi Levy, amended the Public Health Order so that there is no obligation to wear a mask in an open area, starting tomorrow, April 18," the ministry said on Saturday, as quoted by Sputnik.

This comes as global COVID-19 deaths crossed the 3 million mark on Saturday, according to the latest update by Johns Hopkins University. As of 04.30 am IST, the total COVID-19 cases worldwide stand at 140,379,953 and the deaths across the world stand at 3,007,708.

Following the drop in infection rates, the Israel health ministry advised the public to wear face coverings at large outdoor gatherings and stressed that mask-wearing is still obligatory indoors.

According to the Russian news agency, Israel started vaccinating its population against the COVID-19 on December 20 last year and the country has seen one of the most rapid vaccine rollouts of anywhere in the world.