Due to their high coronavirus morbidity, several test centers were opened in ultra-Orthodox communities around the country on Tuesday, but as result of the large demand, large and crowded lines formed outside these facilities, risking a continued spread of the pathogen.
A testing facility was opened Tuesday morning at Jerusalem's predominantly-Haredi Ramot neighborhood, which has been designated as a virus hotspot.
Local residents received a text message urging them to go to get tested free of charge and without a prior appointment.
This resulted in hundreds of people arriving, creating long and crowded queues outside the facility – in contradiction with public health orders on social distanc.
Many of those who arrived to get tested were also people that were required to enter quarantine.
Racheli, a resident of the neighborhood, said that her husband received a message saying he was positive for the virus, which required the rest of her family to go and get tested.
"We received a message from our local HMO to choose a place and a time to come get tested, but all of have been doing is running around the block for an hour trying to get a test," she said.
"My husband is positive, and I need to go into isolation. I do not understand what we are supposed to do. I have been waiting for nearly an hour to get tested. If we have not yet contracted the virus, we surely did now.
Enoch, who also was supposed to be in isolation and who went to get tested, said that he waited for nearly an hour, with health workers at the facility warning it could take close to two hours.
"I am supposed to be in quarantine. I was in contact with a confirmed carrier. If there is any place to get infected, it is here," he said.
Testing centers in Bnei Brak also reported long lines, with mass number of people queuing for hours since the morning hours.
Also Tuesday, police spotted a confirmed coronavirus patient breaking quarantine at a checkpoint in Bnei Brak.
The patient, a man in his 60s, arrived in his car with two other passengers at a checkpoint in the city.
He told police officers that he had been diagnosed with the virus, and was fined and returned to his home.