Two Magen David Adom volunteers were caught on camera conducting black market corona tests for hundreds of shekel. According to a special report that appeared on Ynet news website, who conducted an undercover investigation, the volunteers are running a network of black market tests.
One of the volunteers who was caught on camera, a “high-ranking” volunteer in MDA’s Jerusalem branch, planned an “anonymous” Coronavirus test, that was carried out by a second volunteer. The volunteer who did the testing arrived in a dark vehicle and was not wearing any protective suit, in spite of the danger of being infected by the person who was getting tested. The test was done in exchange for hundreds of shekel.
In a separate incident, the high-ranking volunteer arrived to a woman, also a Ynet reporter who pretended to be a single mother, and conducted a test, without charging her this time. According to the sticker on the test, the test itself came from the “drive-thru” testing station in Jerusalem, and the MDA volunteer submitted the test into the results of the drive-thru under a different person’s insurance.
According to what reporters uncovered the system works as follows: Those wanting to be tested anonymously (so they can avoid going into quarantine or for other personal reasons) contact the high-ranking volunteer, and the price is set over the phone, as are the time and place of the test. The tester goes to the car of the person being tested without wearing any protective gear, and takes the cash, somewhere between 800-1,200 NIS according to the Ynet report. The tester swabs the person getting tested using MDA equipment, and promises that the results will be received in a number of hours.
It seems that the test gets transferred to the drive-thru testing center in Jerusalem, and from there gets sent to the laboratories. However, there is no proof that the samples get passed to the labs or that the answers received are accurate. According to the camera footage collected by Ynet, the high-ranking volunteer sent two different volunteers to do the tests, thus it is clear that this is bigger than a one-person operation.
One of the reporters was told by the MDA volunteer who came to test him and arrived on an MDA medicycle, “You are not the first person I’m testing. We do these kinds of tests all day long, from morning until nightfall. Regarding the results, you have to talk to the high-ranking volunteer. I just do the work. You have nothing to worry about. The lab that runs the test is in Ramallah, thus, the information never even gets to the Health Ministry. We only deal with people who don’t want others to know.”
According to the footage collected from the first Ynet reporter, these black market tests aren’t unique and occur all the time. Someone in MDA is abusing their power and connections to the testing centers for their own personal profit. Additionally, it is unclear whether the results given are accurate, thus allowing for the possibility that people sick with the disease are being told that they can roam free in the population.
If the tests are being sent to the drive-thru facility and processed that way, then the high-ranking official is stealing money from the HMOs who pay for each of the tests being conducted there and is taking the slot of someone else who needs the test.
Another danger is the lack of protective equipment being worn by the MDA volunteers who are actually taking the swabs from potentially ill patients.
Private testing does exist in the Israeli marketplace. Such a test has been price-capped at 297 NIS by the Health Ministry if done via the HMOs. Results are given in 72 hours. Private non-HMO testing also exists. In Assuta hospital, for example, one can have a test done and receive the results in three hours for 750 NIS.
An MDA spokesperson responded to the Ynet report and said: “This is an extremely serious case that is out of the ordinary. It took place without any connection to the volunteer’s service in MDA. When we learned of his prohibited actions, the chief security officer of the organization reported it to the police and filed a complaint against him. The volunteer has been terminated from service effective immediately, and we will take all necessary measures in our power against him.”
The volunteer himself refused to respond to reporters’ requests for comments.
Deputy Commissioner of the police Ziv Sagiv, who heads the Department of Investigations for the Police told Ynet after seeing the footage, “We have seen some pretty serious things here and the police need to investigate this. More than just the testing itself, this is a blow to national resiliency and trust. As soon as a black market of testing opens up, we will no longer know if the testing that is done is serious or not. These materials will be brought to us and we will deal with it.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Maybe people don’t want their lives turned upside down for a positive reading that could be
(A) too small to cause the actual virus (the sample must be multiplied up to 38 times to be read; if it is positive above I think 35 times it is not contagious.
Or
(B) it could be a common cold virus testing positive