Since the activation of the Shin Bet's tracking systems, after the law was approved by the Knesset last week, the Public Inquiries Committee has been accumulating numerous testimonies from citizens who claim that they were mistakenly recorded in the tracking system - as if they were near coronavirus patients, and are required to enter immediate isolation.
Some of the applicants are Sabbath-observant, yet it is claimed that they were picked up by the tracking devices on Shabbat.
The high number of cases has overwhelmed the Ministry of Health's hotline, making it difficult to appeal the decision, and officials at the Ministry of Health admit in closed-door conversations that they have no solution because they are unable to cope with the workload.
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Committee Chairman MK Yaakov Tesler said in the Knesset plenary: "The Location Law is an important tool in locating and breaking the chain of infection, but taking such a drastic step of placing people in isolation and denying their personal freedom should be accompanied by a supporting investigative system to ensure that people are not isolated unnecessarily.""
MK Tesler added: "Bridegrooms and grooms cannot leave the house for their wedding. Parents cannot attend the wedding of their offspring. Workers are not allowed to go to work, including administrative and secretarial employees in health insurance companies who sit with sneeze guards and protective masks, and are forced to go into isolation as well. Or just citizens who are 'stuck' at home through no fault of their own.".
""Their only 'offense' is that they were recorded in the Shin Bet's location and are not allowed to leave the house until they prove that they were not in the places they were claimed to have been.".
He continued: "This is absurd. The instruction to enter isolation is immediate, but several days can pass until the error is proven and permission is received to leave isolation, and in the meantime, people's lives are disrupted and empty. What solution do we offer to those people?" he asked.
He emphasized: "As with any system, faults and errors may occur in the location system, but at the same time, there must be an available and quick option to update and correct the error immediately. Everyone deserves the right to continue their daily lives, as long as they are not required to quarantine. It doesn't matter if they are an ordinary citizen who is prevented from going to synagogue or to work, or if they are a health insurance employee or a bride and groom. It is imperative to ensure that no fault occurs under our control.".
