Israel to offer free, voluntary Covid-19 PCR tests to arrivals

Jerusalem: Israel's Health Ministry has announced free and voluntary Covid-19 PCR tests will be offered to inbound passengers at Ben Gurion International Airport from Wednesday.

"There is a real likelihood of another Covid-19 morbidity wave in the winter, combined with a flu outbreak," the Ministry said on Monday.

"PCR tests, unlike antigen ones, allow the detection of variants and are therefore recommended for arriving passengers," it added as quoted by Xinhua news agency reported.

Passengers will receive a text message encouraging them to take the PCR test upon landing at the airport, according to the Ministry.

Israel cancelled mandatory PCR tests for arriving passengers at its main Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv on May 20, citing a decline in Covid-19 infections.