It's a first.

On Thursday, Covid-19 screening tests were carried out directly on the plane, on an El Al company flight between New York and Tel Aviv, according to information from 

The Jerusalem Post

, relayed by

Capital

.

This new service was reserved for voluntary passengers.

The objective was thus to avoid the queues for them to be tested on their arrival at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

These are indeed perceived as risky, since they can cause the virus to circulate between travelers who wait before being tested.

This experiment was coordinated with Israel's Ministry of Health, the company Femi Premium which manages the Covid-19 testing facilities at Ben Gurion as well as XpresCheck, the company which handles the tests at JFK.

Coronavirus: the 1st PCR tests on board an EL AL New-York / Tel Aviv flight https://t.co/qRiw7lm6On

- i24NEWS French (@ i24NEWS_FR) August 5, 2021

Shortened isolation period in the event of a negative test

On board the plane, specialized personnel took charge of screening the volunteer passengers.

Once taken, the samples were then stored in special refrigerated coolers until arrival in Tel Aviv.

Travelers will then be contacted so that they can know the result of their test.

The price for mid-flight tests has been set at $ 25.

Currently, all travelers, vaccinated or not, must self-isolate for 24 hours after arriving in Israel.

If their test is negative, however, they can shorten this regulatory isolation period.

However, this regulation should change from August 11.

Indeed, after this date, travelers from many countries, such as the United States, will have to isolate themselves for a week, whether or not they are vaccinated.

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  • Health

  • Screening

  • Plane

  • Coronavirus

  • Israel