Israelis Are Ordering At-Home COVID Antigen Tests From Delivery Service ‘Every 3 Seconds’

The Wolt delivery service has become a ubiquitous site on the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, especially as Israel has faced several lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic. While food delivery has been by far the largest percentage of its business, that was supplanted this week by a new popular delivery request – rapid antigen tests for the coronavirus. By Monday, a day after the government’s new regulations requiring at home antigen tests rather than lining up for PCR tests, someone in Israel was ordering an antigen test via Wolt “every three seconds,” The Associated Press reported.  Indeed, a look at Wolt’s Hebrew-language website shows the Israeli pharmacy chain Be by Shufersal as the first listing under stores from which to order for delivery. Meanwhile, Israel’s Health Ministry on Monday recommended that people using home tests for COVID-19 first swab their throats before swabbing their nose, in order to increase the chance of detecting the omicron variant, despite the fact that it goes against the advice of the manufacturers and the US Food and Drug Administration.