From the beginning of the Corona crisis in Israel, the quarantine period for those exposed to Corona patients, or passengers arriving from Red countries was 14 days. Recently, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced changes to this policy, with a possibility of exiting quarantine after 12 days. On Sunday, December 13, the Ministry further shortened the quarantine period to as short as 10 days, under certain circumstances.
Quarantine may be shortened to 10 days, according to the following rules:
- The individual must take a PCR test for Covid as soon as he or she begins quarantine. Persons in quarantine are only permitted to test for Corona at special Drive-in testing centers. A list of these locations can be found here.
- They must then undergo a second PCR test on the ninth day of quarantine.
- In the event that both tests are negative, notification that the person may exit quarantine after 10 days will be sent by SMS or telephone call.
- If one does not receive notification from the Health Ministry, they are required to complete the full 14 day quarantine.
The new rules will take effect tomorrow morning, December 15, at 12 AM. As above, one may only exit quarantine early if they receive notification from the Health Ministry.
The new rules apply both to passengers arriving from Red countries, and to persons who have been in contact with confirmed Covid patients. There were news reports which stated that the rules would ONLY apply to passengers landing in Israel from December 15. Chaim V’Chessed representatives dialogued extensively with Health Ministry officials over this matter. We can now announce that the new process will also apply retroactively to passengers who arrived in Israel before Tuesday, as well.