The Health Ministry reported Friday that so far, 705 Israelis have tested positive for coronavirus. Eleven patients are in serious condition, another 13 are listed as in moderate condition, and the rest of the cases are mild. About a third (266) of the corona patients are hospitalized, while another 86 are receiving professional care in their homes.
Over 60,000 Israelis are under home quarantine. As of Thursday, the government has imposed strict limitations on public life, seeking to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
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The Health Ministry expects hundreds of Israeli coronavirus patients to be on ventilators within a number of days, and thousands to be on ventilators two weeks from now. This was the disturbing outlook voiced on Thursday by the Health Ministry's Director of the Geriatrics Division, Dr. Irit Laxer.
"There is no understanding of the emergency situation that is going to occur here," Laxer said in response to a petition against a proposal to evacuate a geriatric hospital in Rishon Lezion, in central Israel, to turn the facility into a dedicated treatment center for coronavirus cases.
The Rishon Lezion Municipality petitioned against the proposal at the beginning of March, and a temporary injunction has been issued. A court is due to discuss the petition on Sunday.
As part of Israel's preparation for a coronavirus epidemic, the Defense Ministry has begun the process of purchasing 2,500 ventilators as part of its battle against the coronavirus. The estimated cost of the units is over 50 million shekels ($14 million).
On Thursday night, 24 hours after the Mossad flew 100,000 coronavirus testing kits into Israel, the Defense Ministry's Procurement Administration placed the first orders, at the request of the Health Ministry. A thousand of the ventilators will be assembled in Israel, while another 1,500 will be imported.
On Thursday, health authorities said one patient was in critical condition at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.
The hospital reported that the condition of the patient, an 89-year-old woman, was worsening rapidly. The woman had been hospitalized for three days when on Thursday she took a turn for the worse.
The patient is a resident of a retirement home in Jerusalem where a few corona cases have been reported. An 88-year-old man from the same retirement home is hospitalized with coronavirus at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the capital.
Other than the critical case, two of the 12 corona patients at Hadassah Medical Center are in moderate condition, and the rest are mildly ill.
The hospital reported Thursday that four of its corona patients had been released and sent to the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv, which has been turned into a convalescence facility, while two others were dispatched to convalescent rooms at Shmuel Harofeh Medical Center in Beer Yaakov, where they will remain under observation.
