04-19-2021, 08:15 AM
Masks come off as Israel vaunts COVID-19 victory
![[图: israel-masks-off-apr-18-covid-19.jpg]](https://cna-sg-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/image/14646716/16x9/670/377/f0e62c0eb9f3434b19ad4e24a8ad1cc9/lU/israel-masks-off-apr-18-covid-19.jpg)
Israelis stepped into download slotxo the streets without masks on Sunday (Apr 18) for
the first time in a year, a key milestone as the country vaccinates its way out of a coronavirus
nightmare.
"It's very strange but it's very nice," said Eliana Gamulka, 26, after getting off a bus near
the busy Jerusalem shopping boulevard of Jaffa Street and removing her face covering.
"You can't pretend that you don't know anyone any more," she smiled.
With over half the population fully vaccinated in one of the world's fastest anti-COVID 19
inoculation campaigns, the health ministry announced on Thursday that masks would no longer
be required in public outdoor spaces.
For Gamulka, a project manager, the good news came at the perfect time - just two weeks
before her wedding.
It will be "very nice to celebrate with everyone, now without masks", she said. "The pictures
will be great! I'm very relieved. We can start living again."
The vaccination of close to five million people has sent Israel's coronavirus caseload tumbling
from some 10,000 new infections per day as recently as mid-January, to around 200 cases
a day.
That has allowed the re-opening of schools, bars, restaurants and indoor gatherings - although
masks are still required in indoor public spaces.
And even before Health Minister Yuli Edelstein's announcement came into effect, punters in
the popular bars of Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market were mask-free and smiling
on Thursday evening.
Israelis stepped into download slotxo the streets without masks on Sunday (Apr 18) for
the first time in a year, a key milestone as the country vaccinates its way out of a coronavirus
nightmare.
"It's very strange but it's very nice," said Eliana Gamulka, 26, after getting off a bus near
the busy Jerusalem shopping boulevard of Jaffa Street and removing her face covering.
"You can't pretend that you don't know anyone any more," she smiled.
With over half the population fully vaccinated in one of the world's fastest anti-COVID 19
inoculation campaigns, the health ministry announced on Thursday that masks would no longer
be required in public outdoor spaces.
For Gamulka, a project manager, the good news came at the perfect time - just two weeks
before her wedding.
It will be "very nice to celebrate with everyone, now without masks", she said. "The pictures
will be great! I'm very relieved. We can start living again."
The vaccination of close to five million people has sent Israel's coronavirus caseload tumbling
from some 10,000 new infections per day as recently as mid-January, to around 200 cases
a day.
That has allowed the re-opening of schools, bars, restaurants and indoor gatherings - although
masks are still required in indoor public spaces.
And even before Health Minister Yuli Edelstein's announcement came into effect, punters in
the popular bars of Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market were mask-free and smiling
on Thursday evening.