Sep 2, 2021

PCR tests required for Uman pilgrims

The news reported this morning that the government has made and passed final decisions for travel to Uman - anyone traveling to Uman, even vaccinated and recovered people, will need a negative PCR test (taken within 72 hours of the flight) to get on the plane. 

Of course people are all huffy about this requirement saying that on other flights vaccinated/recovered people do not need to get tested before flying.

I dont know what the current rules are for travel to any specific place but back at the end of June and early July  to travel to the USA I had to take a negative PCR test within 72 hours of my flight to the USA. Despite being vaccinated. So people should just stop complaining, go do what they need to do and go where they want to go. yes, these are the rules and many people have to do seemingly unnecessary or unhelpful procedures to travel to where they want or need to go right now. They make rules and the rules apply across the board even if they do not always make sense. Especially now when vaccinated people are also catching the CoronaVirus, even if not getting seriously ill - they will still spread it. With a lot of Uman pilgrims likely not vaccinated, that could spell danger without testing.

That being said, the most egregious aspect of this, I think, is that this decision is being made last minute. There is hardly any travel time left to go to Uman. Rosh Hashana is Monday night. there are only a few travel days left. Anyone wanting to go to Uman that has not yet gone will have to get tested either today or tomorrow, to get results back in time for the trip, and anyone traveling today or tomorrow likely wont be able to get the results back fast enough. Most Uman pilgrims are likely already there, as it is already fairly close to Rosh Hashana, so this new rule will only affect a relatively small percentage of the pilgrims. Making these decisions last minute just makes it harder for people to plan, harder for people to follow the rules, and harder for people to willingly comply. Had the decision been made a week or two ago, maybe people would be grumbling less.




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