New Zealand’s government believes it has come up with a unique plan to end tobacco smoking — a lifetime ban for those aged 14 or younger. Under a new law the government announced Thursday and plans to pass next year, the minimum age to buy cigarettes would keep rising year after year. That means, in theory at least, 65 years after the law takes effect, shoppers could still buy cigarettes — but only if they could prove they were at least 80 years old. In practice, officials hope smoking will fade away decades before then. Indeed, the plan sets a goal of having fewer than 5% of New Zealanders smoking by 2025. Other parts of the plan include allowing only the sale of tobacco products with very low nicotine levels and slashing the number of stores that can sell them.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday instructed the relevant professionals to “examine options for imposing restrictions on the unvaccinated” during a situational assessment of the coronavirus and the Omicron variant. According to a Channel 12 News report, Bennett asked Deputy Attorney General Raz Nazri to examine the legal feasibility of imposing a lockdown on the unvaccinated as well as a ban on leaving the country but the latter option was rejected as legally problematic. Bennett also requested an examination of the possibility of imposing a vaccine mandate in Israel.

The number of Israelis suspected of being infected with the new Omicron COVID variant rose to 34 on Tuesday, with two Israelis confirmed to be carriers of the variant. Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the head of the Health Ministry’s Public Health division, said on Tuesday that the Omicron variant is alarming, Yisrael Hayom reported. “There’s no chance the vaccine will be as effective against Omicron as it is against Delta,” she said at a Knesset committee meeting. “We must buy time to understand the new variant, whether it is deadly and if it harms children.” “What worries us the most is the rapid spread of the mutation in South Africa. The number of cases went from 200 to 2,000 in just two days. They described how one person infected many others, both vaccinated and unvaccinated.

Amid fears of the new Omicron COVID variant, Israel’s government on Tuesday approved the resumption of the controversial Shin Bet phone tracking program to identify suspected carriers of the variant. The bill still has to be approved by a Knesset vote. During a discussion of the bill in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney-General Raz Nizri said that although the tracking is “a very problematic and complex legal issue,” an exception is being made in order to save lives. Additionally, unlike the prior coronavirus waves in Israel, when Shin Bet tracking was used to track all COVID carriers, it will now only be used to track Omicron carriers.

Cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in countries on opposite sides of the world Sunday and many governments rushed to close their borders even as scientists cautioned that it’s not clear if the new variant is more alarming than other versions of the virus. The variant was identified days ago by researchers in South Africa, and much is still not known about it, including whether it is more contagious, more likely to cause serious illness or more able to evade the protection of vaccines. But many countries rushed to act, reflecting anxiety about anything that could prolong the pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people.

Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the head of the Health Ministry’s Public Health division, spoke about the new Omicron coronavirus variant during a discussion of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Sunday morning on the government’s proposed restrictions to thwart the spread of the variant. Dr. Alroy-Preis explained why the variant is particularly concerning. “The variant apparently first developed in mid-October and was sequenced in South Africa and in Hong Kong – in those who returned from South Africa. It is very concerning because it has a number of very unusual mutations, precisely in the very areas we’re worried about.” “We don’t know yet how it will affect the death rate in general,” she said.

Israel on Sunday approved barring entry to foreign nationals and the use of controversial technology for contact tracing as part of its efforts to clamp down on a new coronavirus variant. The Health Ministry said in a statement that the country’s coronavirus cabinet had authorized a raft of measures, including red-listing travel to 50 African countries, banning entry by foreigners and mandating quarantine for all Israelis arriving from abroad. It also approved use of the Shin Bet internal security agency’s controversial phone monitoring technology to perform contact tracing of individuals confirmed with the new omicron variant of coronavirus in Israel.

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Sunday slammed the Israeli government’s new restrictions intended to thwart the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, saying that he thinks that they’re unnecessary. Israel has banned tourists from entering the country for two weeks, lengthened mandatory quarantine from 24 to 72 hours, and is allowing the Shin Bet to track down those who were exposed to the Omicron variant. Sa’ar said that he thinks that halting tourism will have “significant economic costs” and shouldn’t be done “without very very strong reasons.” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett admitted that the government’s steps are “severe” but he feels they are necessary.

Australian officials confirmed Sunday that two overseas travelers arriving in Sydney are the first to test positive in the country for the omicron variant of the coronavirus, as nations around the world tightened controls against the worrying new strain. The two passengers were among a group of 14 others who arrived in Australia from southern Africa on Saturday, They were asymptomatic and were both vaccinated for COVID-19. The remaining 12 have been placed in quarantine. Neighboring New Zealand announced it was restricting travel from nine southern African countries because of the threat posed by the variant, and Japan widened its border controls to include more countries from the region.

Switzerland banned Israelis from entering its territory after the first case of the Omricon COVID variant was discovered in the Jewish state. Those with Swiss or EU passports will be allowed entry but will be required to quarantine for ten days. On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) named the new B1.1.529 COVID variant discovered in South Africa the “Omricon” and designated it as a “variant of concern” due to it being highly infectious.