Shmuel Safri, an 82-year-old Israeli touring Italy was confirmed dead from complications stemming from the coronavirus, Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday night.
Safri, a resident of Haifa in northern Israel, was reportedly admitted to hospital earlier this week and died Thursday. His wife, who was with him on their vacation, is currently in quarantine at a military facility in northern Italy.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Italy's death toll from the coronavirus shot past 10,000 with 889 new deaths recorded Saturday, the country's civil protection service said.
The toll in Italy, which has suffered more deaths than any other country, now stands at 10,023. An additional 5,974 infections brought to 92,472 the number of people who have officially tested positive for COVID-19 in Italy since the crisis began last month.
Meanwhile, 13 Israelis stuck on a cruise ship off the coast of Portugal were allowed to disembark the vessel over the weekend. The Israelis, all between the ages of 65-75, were quarantined aboard the MSC cruise liner that left Brazil in early March and docked off the Portuguese coast due to the spread of the virus.
The Israelis, none of whom have European passports, had been required to remain on the ship for five days, part of the time without medicine or their personal belongings. They were returned to Israel on Saturday.
At least one passenger on the vessel was discovered to have contracted the virus.
Haim Weizman, one of the Israelis that was aboard the ship, told Israel Hayom: "They simply tricked us, played with us and exploited our naivete. We were without medicine and any of those things, and in the end, we paid more than 3,000 shekels for each plane ticket to Israel. It was a tough ordeal."
