The number of Israelis with coronavirus jumped Thursday morning to 529, according to the Health Ministry. At press time Wednesday, 433 Israelis had been diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2. The increased number comes after the ministry conducted many more tests on Wednesday – so many that it sent out a note informing the public it would not be able to report on the number of infected Israelis as early as usual. “Because the number of examining sites has risen (20 labs) and the number of daily examinations is higher than before (more than 2,200 tests yesterday and the number continues to rise), gathering and summarizing all the data – including the number of people who tested positive for coronavirus – will take longer,” the ministry said in a statement. An additional Israeli was listed as in critical condition Thursday – bringing the total to six – but the majority of those afflicted (498) have mild symptoms, the ministry reported. Thirteen Israelis are in moderate condition and 12 have recovered. So far, 36 Israelis are taking advantage of the country’s “coronavirus hotels” to recover. There is one in Jerusalem and one in Tel Aviv. Also on Thursday, Shalva Dahan, the last patient in hospital at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, who had been quarantined on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked off of Japan, was released today, a spokesperson for Sheba said.
Dahan spent 28 days in an isolation room at Sheba after she was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus upon her return to Israel. Over 700 of the ship’s more than 3,700 passengers caught the virus, and at least seven have died. Sheba said that Dahan’s last two tests for coronavirus came back negative.
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