Israel launches corona testing site at airport, en route to opening skies
The prime minister joked with staff and technicians at the testing site, turning down the opportunity to be tested on the spot • said to treat everyone you encounter as if they are a virus carrier
By HANNAH BROWNThe new “Check2Fly” coronavirus testing lab at Ben-Gurion Airport's Terminal 3, November 9, 2020(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The “Check2Fly” coronavirus testing lab at Ben-Gurion Airport's Terminal 3 was inaugurated with an event Monday that was attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Transportation Minister Miri Regev and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein.Check2Fly is a joint project of Omega, a coronavirus testing company, and Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus, with standard test results delivered within 14 hours for about NIS 45. Rapid results will be available in about four hours for around NIS 135.The prime minister joked with staff and technicians at the testing site, turning down the opportunity to be tested on the spot – he is tested regularly – saying, in English, “I gave at the office.” A staff member told the prime minister that 20,000 people a day could be tested, both travelers leaving Israel and entering the country, and described how tests would be taken to a lab and how the results would be returned. One technician wore a mask that had slipped off his nose and the prime minister admonished him to put it back on properly.Speaking about when Israel would enter stage three of a withdrawal from lockdown regulations, he said: “We will decide today or tomorrow – and if the rate of infection is increasing, we won’t go to the third stage... If the morbidity goes up, it goes up like – excuse me – a plane or missile goes up into the sky, and then it destroys the economy, and it exacts a high toll on people’s lives and health.”He spoke about a minority of people who don’t follow the rules and said that “no one wants to be a victim” of their lack of responsibility. He advised people to treat everyone they encountered as if they were a carrier of the virus.Regev said that, “when I took over my position, I promised we would create a lab at the airport that would give fast results for travelers leaving and entering the country” and that she is happy that it was now opening. Given the low number of current travelers, she said that the results could be obtained in five to six hours instead of 14 for the standard tests, but that would change as the skies opened to more air traffic.Eventually, she said, with permission from the Health Ministry, the more expensive, rapid test could yield results in two hours, adding that the only airport lab that could give similarly fast results is in Japan. She pointed to Dubai and the Seychelles Islands as two green destinations that would currently accept Israeli travelers.Edelstein praised Omega and Rambam and also had kind words for Prof. Itamar Grotto, who was present at the event and who announced yesterday that he will be leaving his position as associate director-general of the Health Ministry. Edelstein thanked Grotto for his contribution to public health. He also advised Israelis not to be “friars” (suckers) who are taken advantage of by those not following the health-related regulations.
