Face mask

As flu cases rise in Israel, Health Ministry calls on at-risk groups to wear masks

While vaccination rates are climbing, with about 15.7 percent of the population inoculated, the ministry says coverage remains insufficient.

A sick family
Burka illustrative

Portugal's parliament approves far-right party's bill to ban burkas

Israeli security forces seen during an operation in the Tulkarm refugee camp, in the West Bank, July 6, 2025

IDF West Bank Chief outlaws wearing facemasks, punishable with half year in prison

A demonstrator wears a protective mask as protestors gather at the gates of Columbia University, in support of student protesters who barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall, despite orders from university officials to disband or face suspension during the Israel-Hamas war, in NYC, April 30, 2024.

Columbia bans face masks in protests and acquiesces to other Trump administration demands


Biden says he would if elected mandate masks on interstate transportation

This month, the US Transportation Dept rejected a petition that sought a mask mandate at airports and for US airlines, saying the dept believes "there should be no more regulations than necessary."

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden at a campaign event in New Castle, Delaware, U.S., July 21, 2020

Masks block coronavirus but not perfectly, Japanese study shows

Face masks are still shown to be the most effective means of slowing the spread of the virus, and medical bodies worldwide recommend wearing them and maintaining social distancing measures.

A sign pictured in Tel Aviv reads 'Wear a Mask' during Israel's second lockdown, September 2020.

Meeting the Druze women who make masks in the coronavirus age

"Most of our young Druze women want to go into hi-tech, not make hi-tech masks."

Crown Sewing Factory in Julis.

Survey: Most of Israeli public use face masks improperly amid coronavirus

While focusing on personal habits of face mask wear, the survey mainly targeted the frequency with which Israelis change their masks.

The Livinguard anti-viral face mask

Coronavirus: Face masks don't affect lungs, virus lives on skin for 9 hrs

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci takes off his face mask prior testifying before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on the Trump Administration's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S. June 23, 2020

Coronavirus: Cover your nose when you wear a mask, doctors say

New evidence is increasingly showing that it is far easier for the virus to affect internal systems when passing through the nose.

A participant wears his face mask under his nose as he attends US President Donald Trump’s signing ceremony for HR 1957, the Great American Outdoors Act, at the White House in Washington, US, August 4, 2020

Vietnam to give Israel 100,000 coronavirus face masks

The masks, produced by a local company called PSD, will be delivered to ZAKA volunteers in Israel.

Ambassador Nadav Eschar offers an award certificate to his Vietnamese counterparts.

This Rosh Hashanah we need to respect others - and wear a mask

There was none to be found. He should have been told that only mask-wearers were permitted in that synagogue. He should have been asked to leave. But he wasn’t and he didn’t. Instead, I did.

A woman wearing a mask plays a melancholy melody on her flute in downtown Jerusalem

Pope wears face mask, warns against political exploitation of coronavirus

The pope called people who turn their backs on the suffering coronavirus had caused "devotees of Pontius Pilate who simply wash their hands of it."

Pope Francis puts on a protective face mask as he enters the car after holding the weekly general audience, at the Vatican September 9, 2020.

Bill proposes giving free masks to all Israelis

There is precedent for distributing masks in Israel. When there was a chemical threat to Israel, all Israeli citizens were given gas masks.

Surgical masks