The IDF's Home Front Command and Sheba Target, which conduct PCR tests, noted over the weekend a sharp drop of at least a 50% drop in the number of people requesting to be tested, Israel Hayom reported.
Starting on Monday, the new plan to limit PCR tests only to those at risk will go into effect. In the meantime, the Health Ministry instructed that anyone who wishes to undergo a PCR test be allowed to do so.
Sources in the testing system told Israel Hayom, "The main problem is that the State set up laboratories specifically for the PCR tests, but now they are almost empty, and that's a huge waste of resources. In a situation such as this, they are liable to close, and then the State will have a problem again."
Under the new plan, only those ages 60 and up, and those who have severe chronic illnesses will undergo PCR tests. The rest of the population will either use at-home antigen tests, or official antigen tests. There will also be an option to have in-school antigen testing.
A person who is vaccinated or recovered and who is caring for a minor child under age 12, or for another helpless individual who tested positive for coronavirus, will remain in quarantine until the receipt of a negative result from an official antigen test, performed on the last day that the person he is caring for is in quarantine.
Those who received only one dose of a coronavirus vaccine are not protected and are not considered vaccinated or recovered in case of exposure to a coronavirus patient, and therefore are also not exempt from quarantine.