A renowned rabbi, a nine-year-old boy and a worker at Ben-Gurion Airport were among the latest Israelis confirmed as infected with coronavirus on Wednesday as the number of people in the country with the virus continued to climb.
By Wednesday noon, 76 people were confirmed to have been infected with the pathogen and tens of thousands more were in self-quarantine.
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A traveler wears a mask as he arrives at Ben-Gurion Airport, which is now nearly deserted
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
Israel has taken some of the most stringent steps by any nation to counter virus, now requiring that any person entering the country must spend 14 days in isolation.
Travelers who cannot prove they have somewhere to spend the two-week quarantine period are denied entry to the country.
The dean of Makor Chaim yeshiva in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, Rabbi Dov Singer, tested positive for the virus after his return from the U.S. last week.
The rabbi, who is well-known in religious-Zionist circles, lives on the settlement of Tekoa, where he is in quarantine and in good condition.
He returned from New York on March 1 on El Al Flight LY002, which took off at 5.30pm and landed in Tel Aviv at 10am on March 2.
On Tuesday, the rabbi attended the funeral for one of his students at the settlement of Elon Moreh. All those who were present at the funeral are also being told to go into self-quarantine as are the members of the yeshiva who met with the rabbi following his return.
At the moment, the students at the yeshiva are not being instructed to go into quarantine.
A nine-year-old from Azur near Tel Aviv who recently returned from Spain has also tested positive for the virus, sending 465 of his schoolmates and 26 teaching staff into self-quarantine.
The boy's mother said: "He feels fine. He came back from Spain on March 2 and on Saturday night began to show symptoms [of the disease]. We called the Magen David Adom emergency service, and they sent us a test kit on Monday. He was in solitary confinement on Wednesday, from the moment we were instructed to do so.
"Magen David Adom took two days to arrive, due to their own considerations. The boy is currently at home because it is the first case in a child of his age. The Health Ministry calls us every hour and they just do not know how to deal with it," she said.
"His temperature was 38.3 degrees, and he only had a fever once. I feel fine, but we too at the moment don't know how to handle this."
The worker at Ben-Gurion Airport, known as Patient 71, arrived at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv on Sunday with suspected pneumonia. He was admitted to a ward and released after a few hours when his condition improved.
But on Tuesday he returned to Ichilov, saying that he was still feeling unwell. He was not tested for coronavirus as he did not meet the Health Ministry criteria for such a check to be conducted.
Only after a specialist insisted that he be given the test was he found to suffering from the virus. He is now hospitalized in the ICU, and his condition is good. As a result of his admission, all 10 Ichilov employees who treated him - nurses, doctors and auxiliary staff – were required to enter home isolation.
An Ichilov official said the patient was an employee of the Airports Authority.
"I do not understand how employees who come in contact with people arriving from abroad are not included on the list of those who must undergo coronavirus testing," he said.
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Medical staff in hazmat suits at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan
(Photo: Shmulik Davidpur)
The Health Ministry announced Wednesday morning that the number of coronavirus patients in the country has risen to 76.
Of that number, 63 are now hospitalized and another three have recovered and been sent home. The others are being treated at home, where they are in quarantine.
The Health Ministry website has full details of the locations visited by coronavirus sufferers in Israel.