Five Magen David Adom volunteers have been arrested for illegally administering private coronavirus testing, racking up tens of thousands of shekels in earnings.
The five volunteers, described as Jerusalem residents between the ages of 20 and 30, would travel around the country, including to Ben Gurion Airport, to give the tests for a fee, police say. They would send the samples to a Palestinian lab in the West Bank or a private Jerusalem lab to avoid having the results included in the Health Ministry’s database.
Some of the samples are suspected of having been falsified to come out negative, thus clearing their clients of quarantine, police say.
Four of the five suspects have their remand extended until Friday.
“The suspects took public health into their own hands, while undermining the importance of accurate coronavirus testing, the goal of which is to prevent infection and help Israelis survive the epidemic with the fewest deaths possible,” police say.
The suspects operated out of a “desire for money,” police say, adding that the force was committed to bringing them to justice.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
