Hundreds of Israelis who returned from spending Rosh Hashannah in Ukraine presented certificates showing negative results of their coronavirus tests before boarding flights home. However, upon their arrival in Israel they were found to have contracted the coronavirus.
Police have launched an investigation and have found dozens of suspects with fake coronavirus tests. The suspects have been taken home in ambulances.
Channel 13 News reported that criminal proceedings will be held against the suspects for spreading the disease.
The police are preparing to continue operations at Ben Gurion Airport and to locate similar cases. Magen David Adom reported that over ten percent of of people returning from Uman were found to be infected with the coronavirus.
Health Ministry Director General Professor Nachman Ash said earlier that "it is too early to summarize what happened at Uman and the outline we created for it. We hear that there are quite a few verified cases in tests conducted there and we expect it will be the same for tests conducted here. Our real test is that everyone who is required to go into isolation will be in isolation and certainly whoever is confirmed to have the virus will maintain their isolation. This is the test of today, tomorrow, the next few days, and I call on everyone to keep the guidelines, it very much depends on self-discipline. And whoever returned from Uman and required for isolation must take care of himself. And those who are verified or do not feel well must maintain their isolation."
"It's still too early to say if we passed the fourth wave, it's true that the rate of verified cases has dropped. But because of the holiday, we are doing less testing in recent days and it may have an effect and we have to wait a few more days. The beginning of the school year and the big events of recent days, All of these can increase the number of verified cases, so we have to wait a few more days to see that we get through this sensitive period in peace," said Prof. Ash.