Currently, Israel's main port of entry - Ben Gurion Airport - does not have an efficient coronavirus screening protocol in place due to an objection by the Health Ministry. Some two months ago, Prof. Sigal Sadetsky, then head of Public Health, and Prof. Itamar Grotto, deputy director-general of the Health Ministry, examined the possibility of establishing a coronavirus laboratory on site.However, the ministry did not ultimately approve the decision, citing a shortage of coronavirus test kits and fearing that the government laboratory workers currently responsible for conducting the nationwide coronavirus tests will jump ship given a possibly more lucrative offer.
While Israel continues to struggle with the coronavirus, other countries, like Iceland and Dubai, seem to have found a solution that would allow them to welcome tourists despite the virus: a two-stage screening procedure. This new procedure is based on the principal of a pre-flight screening done 72 hours before the flight in the country of origin, and a second screening that is completed right upon arrival at the destination. The only minor inconvenience is that visitors are asked not to leave their hotel room until their tests are cleared. They are notified of their results by a simple text message sent to their mobile phones. In such manner, many countries are ensuring the safety of their citizens while keeping the tourist industry somewhat alive.
"The world follows a single unified standard for coronavirus screenings: pre-flight and post-flight checkups. In this way, it is possible to know with enough certainty that an individual is not carrying the coronavirus" Alon Ketzef, CEO of DavidShield told Israel Hayom. His company offered to establish and run the coronavirus laboratory at Ben-Gurion Airport. Ketzef further added that Turkey is already running coronavirus tests system at its airport in Istanbul, at an astonishing rate of some 40,000 screens in a single run.Apart from Turkey, Thailand also recently unveiled its own rapid coronavirus tests system in early July, thus ending a three-month ban on some overseas arrivals. As of now, the price tag for these coronavirus screenings is around $200, according to Ketzef, although, it is expected to decrease as the procedure will become a standard in airports around the world in the future.
The Health Ministry remains to this moment firm in its decision not to promote a screening mechanism at Israel's main airport.Dr. Ashi Shalmon, director of the International Relations Division in the Health Ministry, claimed that the reason behind the decision is to do with the increasing rate of coronavirus infections in Israel and resource prioritization. "The skies will remain close at least until September, especially now when we are getting closer towards a full lockdown," Shalmon told Israel Hayom. "We first need to regain control over what's going on here and then to reopen the skies. I am not opposing the idea of establishing a screening mechanism."