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Tests on take-off and landing, isolation until the results: The Corona Committee discusses the layout of the sky opening

The committee convened to monitor preparations for the implementation of the outline, designed to return the aviation world to its Corona routine. The Medical Association warns against the rapid activation of the system "without activating all the necessary measures to minimize the potential for infection"

• Ben Gurion Airport
• Ben Gurion airport
• aviation
• Corona virus

Keenan Cohen

Live broadcast from the Corona Committee

The Corona Committee convenes today (Monday) to discuss the outline for the opening of the sky and the return of the aviation world to the Corona routine. The focus of the discussion will be on the model of corona testing for those entering and leaving Israel, in the various countries of origin and destination, and at Ben Gurion Airport.

The purpose of the system is to issue a kind of "medical passport", which will allow passengers from Israel to enter countries that require a preliminary check as a condition of entry, as well as entry of passengers to Israel from countries where the morbidity rate is high.

As reported in Walla! NEWS, The Airports Authority plans to operate a drive-in complex for inspections that will be conducted 72 hours before departure abroad. These complexes will be operated by teams with equipment that arrives in Israel from abroad and does not detract from the resources required to conduct inspections throughout the country. Combined with parallel laboratories abroad, these laboratories will provide a state of "closing the circle": two adjacent tests at times, to rule out the carrying of the virus in passengers.

According to the position paper of the international insurance company "David Shield", the system will be set up according to the following method: Those leaving Israel will register online or by phone for the process, will be checked in the designated complex and will be in isolation until the flight date. If a negative result is obtained, the passenger will receive a permit to enter the terminal. However, if the test result is positive, it will be reported to the Ministry of Health and the passenger will remain in isolation. Without confirmation, the passenger will not be able to leave the country, and it will control the airport.

It should be noted that according to the timetable of the tender of the Ministry of Transport and Airports Authority, which test compounds are not expected to start before the second half of October 2020

between the two countries Corona field tests include the following countries: Europe - Germany, Austria, France, Turkey, Denmark, Russia, Greece, Czech Republic, Finland and Iceland; America - Hawaii, Alaska and the Bahamas; Asia - Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan South Korea, China and Jordan

At the entrance to Israel, subject to the approval of the Ministry of Health, an online entry form will be filled out and a monitoring and monitoring application will be installed on the mobile phone. Incoming passengers must present a valid check-in checkpoint The results: A negative result will allow them to get out of the isolation, and a positive result will leave them in it.

Between green and red countries

In the tourism industry, there are those who advocate the abolition of the existing distinction between "green" and "red" countries. In a position paper submitted by the Future Tourism Headquarters to the Corona Committee, this is the first of a series of proposals that the headquarters considers necessary to restore air activity to the series. According to the data held by Adv. David Schafercher, who received the position paper on behalf of the headquarters, the countries' coloring policy is responsible for the almost complete halt in sales in the tourism sector in Belgium and France, according to him. In a country whose color and definition may change during their stay and force them to isolate and return to the country of origin.

The Future Tourism Headquarters objects to the position paper presented in the tender of the Airports Authority and the Ministry of Transportation. Clalit and Hadassah Hospital, despite the high costs involved, however, the Ministry of Health opposes this, and even conditioned every outline of tests on the test teams, pens and chemicals being imported into Israel, so as not to detract from the test capacity of citizens in Israel.

More on Walla! NEWS

The outline for opening the sky: the difficulties on the way to defining a "blue mark" for the resumption of flights

To the full article

Naturally, among the organizations representing the inbound tourism industry, there is a wall-to-wall agreement on the need to open state gates to inbound tourists. The director general of the Chamber of Inbound Tourism Organizers in Israel, Yossi Fattal, said that the industry even offered three inspections to incoming tourists.

"As part of the detailed outline, we offered to accept only tourists who underwent a corona test 72 hours before arriving in Israel. "During their tour and within 72 hours before returning to their country," Fattal said. According to industry insiders, such an arrangement could significantly reduce the risk. By doing so, they also intend to eliminate the separation between "green" and "red" countries, a situation that will allow According to them, the State of Israel has a uniform foreign policy, without declaring that it does not accept citizens from friendly countries, the United States for example (the leading tourist entry to Israel - KK). "I am sorry to say, but the Ministry of Health's planned policy to leave and return from 'green' countries Tests do not guarantee a low risk, "Fattal said.

Those who object to the fast schedule are the Medical Association of Israel, which warns of the "potential danger to public health if 'the sky is opened' without taking all necessary measures to minimize the potential for infection with the corona virus." Among these steps, the Histadrut noted the publication of the "blue mark" detailing the safety measures taken in the field and flight, and the establishment of a dedicated epidemiological unit at Ben Gurion Airport, which will centralize morbidity among departing and

incoming passengers. the airport, but stressed that the tests can not give a definite answer. "It is important that the public and policy makers know that a negative response corona virus PCR test is not proof that a person is not infected," they said.

"Alongside our steadfast support in Opening the sky, it is important to stress that the It is not enough to decide on a deadline, but at the same time it is necessary to take systematic measures to reduce the risk so that the airport can be opened for the long term and at any level of morbidity, "says Prof. Hagai Levin, chairman of the Israel Public Health Association.