(Photo: Olivia Fitoussi Flash 90)
The subjects are stuck: Heavy traffic loads were recorded today (Sunday) near the corona testing complexes all over the country, due to the high demand for tests in the shadow of the spread of the omicron variant. Police have called on drivers who do not come for inspections at complexes to travel on alternative roads and to use navigation apps to avoid reaching the inspection areas.
According to a statement from the Israel Police, dozens of reports of heavy traffic have been received in the last few hours at the centers. The heaviest traffic jams were recorded near the test complex at Sportek on Yosef Nevo Street in Herzliya, as well as near the compound on Komemiyot Street in Bat Yam. In Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem, too, long queues were reported at the test sites, with some of the test sites having to wait two hours or more before undergoing the antigen or PCR test.
Waiting in line for an examination in Tel Aviv (Photo: Avshalom Shashoni / Flash 90)
As mentioned, the heavy loads in the complexes are due to a sharp increase in the number of people required for the examination, whether due to suspicion of infection in the corona or whether due to exposure to a verified patient or for the purpose of exiting isolation. Just yesterday, 143,000 corona tests were performed across the country – a particularly high figure for the weekend – and over the past week over 753,000 tests were performed, an increase of almost 40 percent over the previous week.
Corona testing complex in Jerusalem (Photo: Olivia Fitoussi / Flash 90)
Bennett: “Working to find solutions”
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett addressed the burden of inspections during a cabinet meeting held this morning, and ministers discussed ways to bring about a reduction in congestion in the coming days. “It should be remembered that even a situation of tens of thousands verified a day is very difficult to manage logistically,” Bennett said. “These are numbers that the world did not know, and we did not know either. Therefore, we see, for example, a heavy load in testing and we are working in these moments, to find solutions.”
Photo: Itai Beit On / GPO, Sound: Nir Sharaf: GPO
During the discussion, Ministers Hemed Amar, Pnina Temano Sheta and Tamar Zandberg proposed transferring the antigen tests to a format of independent tests at home in order to reduce the load. Bennett said in response that “changes have been made to the testing system, I do not want citizens to be stuck for hours.” He later suggested leaving only the PCR tests in the complexes.
Prof. Eran Segal of the Weizmann Institute of Science also warned this morning of a lack of tests and the collapse of the entire system. In an interview with Gali Tzahal, he said that “we are facing the spread of the omicron. Starting at some point, 20,000 or 30,000 verified a day, we will be blind to the numbers because we do not have enough tests. The testing system is already collapsing. “
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