coronavirus testing

Israel's Scentech Medical hopes to create a breath test to sniff out the coronavirus (YouTube screenshot)

Instant COVID-19 breath test as precise as swab test, Israeli company says

Tel Aviv-based Scentech Medical is in second stage of trials and awaiting FDA approval for test with 98% accuracy

Police at a temporary roadblock in Jerusalem during a 3rd nationwide lockdown, in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, on January 19, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

January 23, 2021, 9:07 am

Israel expected to raise COVID fines, place fresh limits on air travel

TV report: Travelers to country will need negative test before flying; HMOs set to begin vaccinating 16-18-year-olds, so that matriculation exams can go ahead

By TOI staff

January 15, 2021, 11:30 am

Instant COVID-19 breath test as precise as swab test, Israeli company says

Tel Aviv-based Scentech Medical is in second stage of trials and awaiting FDA approval for test with 98% accuracy

By TOI staff

Samples from the NaorCov19 test, developed by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Red indicates a positive result; yellow is negative. (courtesy of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology)

January 12, 2021, 10:04 pm

Technion rolls out home-made coronavirus spit tests on campus

As Israel’s third wave rages, university says swift saliva checks it developed can help prevent outbreaks in dorms and allow school to reopen when lockdown ends

By Nathan Jeffay

People wearing face masks shop at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem on December 25, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

December 25, 2020, 6:09 pm

Israelis rush malls, markets in final days before third lockdown begins

Crowds highlight challenge of instituting a national closure, with people gathering in large numbers before restrictions come into effect

By TOI staff

Police at a termporary roadblock in Jerusalem on September 27, 2020, during a nationwide lockdown (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

December 25, 2020, 1:31 pm

Ministers okay rules of 3rd lockdown, expected to cost NIS 2.5 billion a week

Bank of Israel says economic damage of latest closure likely to be less than previous ones, due to laxer restrictions and schools staying partly open

By TOI staff

Health care workers take coronavirus test samples of Israelis in Modi'in, December 24, 2020 (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

December 25, 2020, 8:52 am

Nearly 4,000 new virus cases diagnosed, as number of vaccinated hits 210,000

Day before Israel enters its third national lockdown, Health Ministry says over 74,000 people got their first shots on Thursday

By TOI staff

Passengers board a Eurostar train at St Pancras International station in London on December 23, 2020, as services prepare to resume following a 48 hour closure of the French border, due to a new coronavirus strain being discovered in the UK. (Tolga Akmen/AFP)

December 23, 2020, 7:29 pm

UK says South African strain even more infectious than its own new variant

British health minister warns latest virus version ‘appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered’ in the UK

By AFP

A self-administered rapid coronavirus at-home test kit, developed by manufacturer Ellume. (Ellume via AP)

December 15, 2020, 11:50 pm

US authorizes first at-home coronavirus test, with results in 20 minutes

Regulators say kits made by California-based Ellume, which will sell for around $30 and can be purchased over the counter, identify up to 96% of positive samples

By AFP

Jonathan Rothberg aboard his superyacht Gene Machine with his home coronavirus test, Detect. (Courtesy)

December 5, 2020, 4:30 pm

On land and sea, US presidential-honored scientist works toward home virus test

Serial start-upper Jonathan Rothberg aims to turn tide of pandemic with a coronavirus testing kit he devised while isolating with vulnerable family members aboard his superyacht

By Rich Tenorio

Vials of a potential coronavirus vaccine are seen on an assembly line, in a photograph released by the Israel Institute for Biological Research on October 25, 2020. (Defense Ministry)

December 3, 2020, 10:09 pm

Israel may get 4 million COVID shots this month, start vaccinating — reports

Health officials said preparing to inoculate 80,000 a day, weighing local approval without FDA; Health Ministry chief warns of new restrictions as infections rise

By TOI staff

Shanghai-based testing kit company GeneoDx presents a booth at a trade fair in Nanchang in eastern China's Jiangxi province on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

December 3, 2020, 1:16 pm

China disease center’s backdoor deal with testing firms fueled pandemic’s spread

Beijing only approved tests made by 3 companies that officials had personal ties with; early kits were faulty and scarce, causing backlog and aiding virus to circulate unchecked

By Dake Kang

A person wearing a mask runs on a path in front of the Golden Gate Bridge during the coronavirus pandemic in San Francisco, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

December 3, 2020, 5:18 am

Virus was spreading in US as early as December 2019, new study indicates

As US hospitalizations top 100,000, CDC survey finds antibodies for COVID-19 in blood samples taken more than a month before America’s first case was diagnosed

By TOI staff and Agencies

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits a new coronavirus testing station at Ben Gurion Airport on November 9, 2020. (Haim Zach/GPO

November 9, 2020, 3:18 pm

Netanyahu warns lockdown exit will be halted as infection rate levels off

With infections remaining over 500 a day, a key threshold for rolling back more restrictions, PM says next phase of easing measures may be put off

By TOI staff

Tomer Hertz (right) supervising a clinical trial for the new pooling method for coronavirus test labs (Dani Machlis/Ben Gurion University)

November 9, 2020, 2:40 pm

Israeli lab uses math hack to roll out speedy one-stage pooled virus test

Soroka introduces method that will eliminate second stage of search for positive samples, quadrupling speed without new equipment, with hopes of exporting the solution abroad

By Nathan Jeffay

People shop at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, 2 November, 2020 (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

November 4, 2020, 9:52 am

Daily virus cases rise as Knesset vote delayed on hiking fines for rule-breakers

831 cases diagnosed on Monday; vote postponed after ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism said to tell PM they oppose any penalty increase for illegally open educational institutions

By TOI staff