Public Health (Corona Sampling and Testing) Regulations, 5781-2021

In these Regulations –

"corona testing site" – a testing site at which a rapid corona test is conducted, including sampling and receipt of the results of such a test; such a site may be mobile; for the purpose of a remotely supervised home self-test, such a site shall be the site at which remote samplers operate;

"test" – any of the following:

"remotely supervised home self-test" – a test supervised by means of communication enabling the real-time transmission of image and sound, between a remote sampler and a person being tested pursuant to Section C of Chapter III, and in the case of a test that is not a rapid corona test, sampling supervised as aforesaid;

"serological test" – a serological test for the detection of antibodies to SARS-CoV2;

"corona test" – a test for SARS-CoV2;

"rapid corona test" – a corona test or a serological test, the results of which are obtained on-site within not more than thirty minutes, including a rapid corona test that is a remotely supervised home self-test;

"samples" – samples originating from human beings for the purpose of conducting a test;

"sampler" – a person who performs sampling operations and has been granted authorisation pursuant to regulation 11, including a remote sampler;

"remote sampler" – a person who performs remote supervision over a person conducting a remotely supervised home self-test and has been granted authorisation pursuant to regulation 11;

"sampling" – the taking of samples;

"the Director" – the Director General of the Ministry of Health or a person authorised by him for the purposes of these Regulations;

"operator of a corona testing site" – a person whose occupation is the operation of a corona testing site;

"operator of a collection point" – a person whose occupation is the operation of a collection point, including a collection point for a remotely supervised home self-test;

"medical manager" – a person appointed as the responsible manager of a corona testing site pursuant to regulation 8;

"base profession" – (Repealed)

"registry" – the registry of operators of corona testing sites or the registry of operators of collection points, as the case may be, maintained pursuant to regulation 2;

"medical laboratory worker" – one of the following:

"registered in the registry" – a person who has received a registration certificate as referred to in regulation 4 and whose registration remains valid and has not been cancelled or suspended, as referred to in regulations 5 and 7;

"collection point" – a collection point at which samples are taken and collected for the purpose of their transfer to a laboratory for testing;

"the Laboratory Regulations" – the Public Health (Medical Laboratories) Regulations, 5737-1977.

The validity of a registration in the registry shall not exceed one year from the date of registration, and the Director may renew the validity of the registration for additional periods not exceeding one year each, from the date of expiry of the registration in the registry; renewal of the registration shall be granted on the basis of a declaration to be submitted by the operator of the testing site or collection point in the form set out in Part 2 of the First Schedule; where the operator of the testing site or collection point has submitted a declaration as referred to in this regulation, the provisions of regulation 4(a) shall apply with the necessary modifications.

The operator of the corona testing site or collection point shall obtain the signature of those subordinate to the operator, including employees of the testing site or collection point, on a confidentiality undertaking form for the preservation of the confidentiality of matters brought to their knowledge in the course of performing their role or in the course of their work; the Director shall publish a specimen of such a form on the website of the Ministry of Health.

The taking of samples by a sampler who is not a remote sampler for the purpose of conducting tests, as well as the conduct of rapid corona tests by such a sampler, shall be carried out in accordance with the Third Schedule.

The packaging and transportation of samples from a collection point to a medical laboratory shall be carried out in accordance with the Fourth Schedule.