Dozens squeeze in line to fill out health declarations at Ben Gurion Airport
Arrivals from Turkey seen crowding together, with some not wearing masks, as they try to complete mandatory forms to enter the country
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Dozens of travelers reportedly packed together and failed to maintain social distancing at Ben Gurion International Airport as they waited in line to fill out mandatory health declarations upon entering the country.
A Wednesday report by Channel 12 documented a flight that arrived from Istanbul, Turkey late Monday night and showed the new arrivals packed into a single line, many of them not wearing masks altogether or only over their mouths.
Turkey is listed as a “red” country due to its high coronavirus infection rate and anyone returning from there is required to self-quarantine for 14 days.
The man who recorded the overcrowding expressed his shock to Channel 12 at the lack of social distancing upon arrival to Israel.
N12 – תיעוד חמור מנתב”ג: עשרות נוסעים מתקהלים בתור להצהרת בריאות https://t.co/l5psp04V6y
— מוקד החדשות של ישראל (@mokednewsil) October 7, 2020
“I land in the country and the overcrowding begins before entering passport control,” he said. “I yelled at a security guard there but no one paid any attention. I don’t understand why they didn’t separate us in capsules.”
Asked for comment on the incident, the Airports Authority referred Channel 12 to the Health Ministry and the Population and Immigration Authority, because the complex where the crowding took place was not under its responsibility.
The Population and Immigration Authority in response claimed that the images shown in the report were not typical and accused the passengers of failing to follow the instructions.
“These are not daily photos but a very specific point in time, in which the passengers who landed did not follow instructions and crowded together, contrary to the requests of the workers. This lasted only a few minutes, and the shift manager promptly separated them in accordance with the Health Ministry guidelines for businesses,” the Immigration Authority told Channel 12.
Israel had a total of 278,932 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic as of Wednesday morning, with 61,927 active cases, 879 of them serious — 1,806 Israelis have died from the disease.
The Times of Israel Community.