(CMR) Miss Cayman Islands Universe Georgina Kerford will not be receiving additional in-person support from the local pageant's committee at the Miss Universe competition after the host country, Israel, shut its borders for two weeks. Kerford, who traveled to Israel with a family member and a committee member, had expected to meet up with other members of the committee on 8 December.
Israel's decision to close its borders to international travelers was in direct response to the emergence of the Omicron variant as countries scrambled to slow down the spread of the latest coronavirus variant.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said last week that the country's borders would be closed to all foreigners due to concerns about the omicron variant and that Israeli citizens coming into the country would have to quarantine, regardless of their vaccination status.
Georgina Kerford was to be joined by Committee chairperson Derri Daces and committee member Donna Bush days ahead of the pageant, which will be held on 12 December. The competition will be streaming on FOX and Telemundo.
Reuters reported that one case of the omicron variant had been confirmed in Israel, and seven others in the country are suspected of having the variant.
Israel has recorded 1.3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 8,000 fatalities since the pandemic began.
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