The Health Ministry reported on Tuesday morning that the national death toll from the coronavirus was now 181 people. As of 8 a.m. 13,883 Israelis have contracted the virus, among them 142 in critical condition with 113 people on ventilators. The ministry reported a slight drop in the number of patients on ventilators compared to Monday.
Additionally, according to the ministry, 135 patients were in moderate condition and 9,072 in mild condition. There were 2,215 Israelis at the specially converted hotels across the country and 6,620 were self-quarantined at home. Thus far, 4,353 people have recovered from the virus in Israel.
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The Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv reported earlier Tuesday that a 48-year-old man with no pre-existing history died overnight Monday. "He was on a ventilator for one week and was even attached to an ECMO machine, but to our sorrow despite the doctors' efforts we had to pronounce his death Monday night," the hospital said in a statement.
The man was later identified as Rabbi Chaim Aharon Torchin, the dean of the Ohr Yitzhak yeshiva in Bnei Brak. He left behind a wife and 14 children.
Israel Hayom reported on Monday that another man, 47, who is hospitalized at Sourasky Medical Center in extremely critical condition due to a severe deterioration, was also attached to an ECMO machine -- which provides prolonged cardiac and respiratory support.
The man, who works as an undertaker, also handled corpses of people who succumbed to the coronavirus. It was unclear on Monday how he contracted the virus or from whom, although there was concern he could have been infected within the framework of his work.
Meanwhile, the police on Monday night forcibly quarantined a man confirmed to have contracted the deadly virus. The patient, from the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel, had refused to voluntarily check into a specially converted hotel. He was also issued a 5,000 shekel ($1,400) fine.
"After coordinating with the Health Ministry and medical professionals, the police's coronavirus task force donned protective gear and together with a medical team arrived at the place where the patient was staying. The police task force helped the medics transfer the patient to an ambulance while adhering to the safety protocols. The suspected virus carrier was transferred by ambulance without resistance and was accompanied to a hotel in Ashkelon until responsibility for his case was transferred to the IDF's Home Front Command," the police said in a statement.
