The granddaughter of one of the five Israelis who have died from coronavirus has a message for the country: "Wake up!"
Or Halel, 26, included the warning in a eulogy she wrote on her Facebook page for her 76-year-old grandfather Moshe Halel, who passed away on Wednesday night.
“When you hear about it in the news it seems so far away,” Or wrote. “He was at home with a fever for too long; they refused to test if he had contracted the virus because he had had no contact with a confirmed patient [and] by the time they tested him he had no strength left to fight.”
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Or Halel with her grandfather, Moshe Halel, who passed away on Wednesday
(Photo: Courtesy)
Or’s grandmother is currently hospitalized after contracting the disease from her late husband.
“We don't know how or when he was infected, but it doesn't matter,” she wrote, “I’m writing this post mainly because i’m angry and want people to wake up."
"Over the last week I've been reading more and more articles about those who violate their quarantine, and hearing about people who think the disease is nothing, and that they are most probably immune," she wrote.
"Every person who violates the regulations may not be harming themselves, but is definitely harming others. To the weaker population this is a matter of life and death, even if you think you aren’t sick you may just be a carrier who unwittingly spreads the virus. These regulations are not for show, they are to save lives.”
Moshe, who significant existing health issues, passed away at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer on Wednesday. The medical center said that he had been admitted to the ICU for coronavirus patients on Monday.
Iris Avraham, Moshe’s daughter said: “Dad was a sick man, he had dementia [but] he had no severe background illnesses. We asked for a coronavirus test for a long time, but they came after five days and dad arrived at the hospital with shortness of breath and lack of blood oxygen. My mother is also in isolation after contracting the virus.”
"I can't hug my mother and I we have to perform the funeral alone with my brothers and record it all on video," she added.
"[My mother] knows dad is dead; we told her in a video call with the doctor," Avraham said. "Yesterday she was told that she was a verified corona patient and that she is in isolation in the hospital's coronavirus ward."
She it is not clear how her parents caught the virus, but speculated that it could have a health care worker.
As of Thursday morning, there were 2,495 confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel. Of that number, 41 people are in serious condition, 68 are in moderate condition and 2,315 have light symptoms, while at least 66 people have recovered from the illness.