Israel’s new Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced during a press conference on Sunday night that there will be new parameters in place to determine who will be able to receive a test for Covid-19 Coronavirus ad that these new parameters will include people who show no symptoms of the virus.

Until recently the regulations only allowed people who showed some symptoms of the virus and were exposed to a person with a confirmed case of the virus. According to Edelstein people will now be allowed to be tested if they fit into one of the following seven categories:

1: Family members of a person who is confirmed to have the virus even if they don’t have any symptoms. They will be tested on the same day that the confirmed person received a positive result and they will be tested once again 5 days later.

2: People who were in close proximity with a confirmed patient in a school, (this includes people in the same classroom, on the same bus, and in certain cases, an entire school)

3: People who were in close proximity to confirmed patients who live in the same organized housing, nursing homes, assisted living, same social service programs.

4: According to the determination of a person’s doctor.

5: Special segments of society in accordance with the instructions of the Health Ministry for extraordinary circumstances.

6: Anyone with symptoms who came into contact with a confirmed patient.

7: Any person with symptoms of the disease who arrived at the hospital.

High ranking officials within the Health Ministry opposed this new policy but Edelstein was persistent. “We heard the cries of the public who continuously claimed that not everyone who wanted to be tested was able to do so. We are in direct contact with the health providers and I am personally meeting with the CEOs of all of the HMOs in the country next week in order to emphasize the importance of additional testing in the field for those portions of the populace who require testing,” Edelstein said.

“It is no secret that there is a difference of opinion among the experts when it comes to how many people should be tested. The opinions vary from no one needs to be tested to everyone should be tested.”

Edelstein also said that “even if a person has received negative results or event two negative results it does not allow them to break the isolation regulation of staying isolated for 14 days from the day of exposure.”