Some 3,865 Israelis have coronavirus on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health. Twelve people have died from the virus and 66 are in serious condition, among them a young man in his 20s who is hospitalized at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital. The numbers represent an increase of 246 more people from press time on Saturday night.
The young man began his treatment with mild symptoms and without any pre-existing medical conditions, a spokesperson for Assuta said, but in recent days his situation deteriorated and doctors decided to intubate him. “Toward morning, the patient’s respiratory condition worsened,” said ICU head Meir Ami, who noted that the patient’s condition is table and he is responding well to treatment.
Part of the reason for the increase in diagnoses is that the Health Ministry has been working with Magen David Adom and the IDF to increase the number of people being tested each day. Last week, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center began conducting and evaluating coronavirus tests in its microbiological laboratory.
“This is a tremendous achievement for the residents of the area and the hospital staff, which required careful, meticulous and thoughtful preparatory work,” said hospital director Dr. Mickey Dudkiewicz. On Friday, the Health Ministry said that it will increase the number of people it tests for coronavirus to 30,000 per day within a month. On Friday, some 6,000 tests were taken, and that number is expected to increase to 10,000 by mid-week. Of those diagnosed with the virus, the majority continue to have mild symptoms: 3,616. The rest have moderate symptoms (82) or have recovered from the virus (89). Over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed increasing restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, especially as some pockets of society, such as many of the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) continue to ignore the certain guidelines.
“What is happening in Bnei Brak is like Italy,” one doctor from a major hospital in central Israel told Channel 12. “Almost every haredi who is tested for the virus is found positive. There are families with 100% infection. The Health Ministry needs to go door to door, and take the sick from their homes. If not, in another few weeks, we will see them coming in by masses.”
In an interview with the television channel, Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov explained that behavioral changes had been noted in both the haredi and Arab neighborhoods, but that “the potential for infection is greater in places with greater population density.” Over the weekend, hundreds of Haredim attended the funeral of Rabbi Tzvi Shinker in Bnei Brak, in direct violation of the Health Ministry orders that no more than 10 people gather in one place.
The restrictions, however, are harming the Israeli economy. On Sunday morning, Israel Employment Services reported that 32,577 people enrolled for unemployment benefits over the weekend and a total of 764,165 enrolled this in March. The total number of Israelis looking for work is close to 1 million and the unemployment rate is 22,15%. The virus is also spreading throughout the Palestinian Authority. On Sunday morning, the PA reported six new coronavirus patients in the village of Qatanna near Jerusalem.
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