‘Check2fly’ testing center at Ben-Gurion Airport to be inaugurated Monday
Standard tests with results delivered within 14 hours will cost about NIS 45. Rapid results will be available for around NIS 135.
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMANA health worker, wearing a protective suit and a face mask, administers a nasal swab to a patient in a temporary testing site for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Zenith Arena in Lille, France, October 26, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/PASCAL ROSSIGNOL)
The “Check2Fly” coronavirus testing lab at Ben-Gurion Airport has been set up in Terminal 3 and will be inaugurated in a formal ceremony on Monday.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and several other top ministers and officials will take part in the event. The new lab could enable Israelis to more easily travel abroad and eventually allow the country to open its skies to foreign travelers.Check2Fly is a joint project of Omega, a coronavirus testing company, and Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus.Standard tests with results delivered within 14 hours will cost about NIS 45. Rapid results will be available for around NIS 135.The center will be divided into two capsules, or “labs within the lab,” a person familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post. In each capsule, travelers can be swabbed and have the results of their test uploaded to a special digital management system through which they can access their results, the source said.The system will even issue a medical passport in Hebrew and English.One system will be for public use, while at the same time test results will be sent directly to the Health Ministry, the source said.The test is to be a gold-standard swab (PCR) test, which helps detect current active COVID-19 infection. PCR tests render results at more than 95% accuracy.Most “green” countries that allow Israelis to enter require travelers to present a negative PCR test no older than 72 hours prior to arrival.A drive-in testing center will be set up near Terminal 3. Passengers will be able to arrive up to 72 hours in advance of their flight, be tested and then pick up their results on their date of travel, the source told the Post.
Travelers who choose to pay for the four-hour rapid test will be able to be screened at the lab, wait in the airport and receive their results before takeoff.Returning passengers can also be screened at the airport. Currently, the Health Ministry still requires 14 days of quarantine upon return from a “red” country. However, the ministry approved shortening that window to 12 days for people who have had two negative tests a certain number of days apart. As such, the testing center at the airport could play a key role.Not all countries currently accept Israeli travelers. Anyone interested in going abroad should check the destination country’s policies before purchasing a ticket.
