Hundreds refuse to go to COVID-19 hotels, remain at Ben-Gurion Airport
Passengers from three different flights returning to Israel from Dubai declined to go into quarantine in state hotels.
By MOSHE COHEN/MAARIV, JERUSALEM POST STAFFPASSENGERS WEARING masks push trolleys yesterday at the departures terminal at Ben-Gurion Airport.(photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN / REUTERS)
Hundreds of returning passengers who arrived at Ben Gurion Airport after visiting Dubai on Thursday refused to obey the instructions to go into a COVID-19 hotel. Having arrived on three different flights, they all demanded to be exempted by Health Ministry officials present at the airport. The reason for the officials being there is to allow minors, nursing mothers, the sick, and those with special needs to spend the 14-days of quarantine in their homes.One man was recorded shouting "Shame on you! You should learn from Dubai what is the proper way to behave.""Every passenger arriving from Dubai must pass two COVID-19 checks, one 96 hours before the flight and once when they arrive at the airport there," vice-head of marketing at Israair Gil Stav said, "most passengers stay there for three or four nights so the odds they are infected are slim."Stav claimed the infection rate in the Gulf State is only 0.15%." If true, that would mean only one person out of 700 returning Israelis has the novel coronavirus.The civic disobedience arrives on the heels of the Corona Cabinet deciding that all Israelis returning home, no matter where they were, must enter a two weeks quarantine period at a state hotel.The government is worried after the UK, South Africa, and other countries reported patients were found to carry a mutation of the novel coronavirus which spreads much more rapidly. Israelis in a state hotel may leave in 10 days if they pass two COVID-19 tests and are found not to carry the virus. The entire nation is meant to begin a lockdown period on Sunday expected to extend beyond two weeks in an effort to reduce infection rates.Those who are staying at state hotels complain about the poor conditions, lack of food, and argue against the drastic measure taken against law abiding citizens with homes they could stay in. Many complained about the disruption the decision caused to their lives and one person committed suicide in a case which is still being investigated.Israelis who returned from the UK earlier this week also raged against this measure. Allegedly, many wished to return to London but were unable to do so as the plane already departed.
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