Some 65 members of the Chabad-Lubavitch hassidic group who were staying in quarantine at the Dan Jerusalem hotel after arriving from the US last week among a group of 114 Chabad travelers were confirmed as having been infected with the novel coronavirus on Sunday.
All the travelers who were confirmed to have the virus will be transferred to the Shmuel HaRofeh Medical Center. 41 travelers will stay in the hotel for now which will serve as a place for handling special cases and not for hospitalizing those who are infected. Eight of the travelers are still being tested for the coronavirus and a decision about them will be made once the results are in. Some 1,071 Israelis have been infected with the novel coronavirus at press time, with the spike in the number of diagnoses likely tied to a sharp increase in the number of coronavirus tests being conducted – some 2,473 at press time. Last week, the defense establishment turned Tel Aviv’s Dan Panorama and Jerusalem’s Dan hotels into quarantine facilities. Preparations have been made by the Home Front Command, Magen David Adom and the police to fully isolate the facilities. A specially constructed sterile area has been set up at the entrances to the hotels, and both the hotel’s security and the police will guard the sites to make sure no sick individuals leave.
Home Front Command leader Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai said two other hotels, one in Haifa and one in the South, will open soon. With at least 500 rooms, each hotel is able to hold between 500-1,000 patients. All medical care will be provided by the Health Ministry.
Anna Ahronheim and Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman contributed to this report.
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