Another Israeli Minister Enters Quarantine as High Infections Rate in Israel Continues

The Minister of Water and Higher Education Zeev Elkin entered quarantine Sunday after being exposed to Coronavirus (COVID-19) carrier, the third minister to enter quarantine in the past week.

Elkin stated Saturday night that he was notified that one of his advisers contracted the virus and that some of the staff who were in contact with him went into isolation.

He is not required to enter isolation because he has not been in contact with the aide in the last two weeks. However, “to be sure, I asked for a test tomorrow morning and decided to stay in isolation until the results are obtained.”

Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Rafi Peretz and Minister of Defense Benny Gantz entered quarantine last week, and Public Security Minister Amir Ohana decided to self-quarantine last week, just in case, even though the Healthy Ministry standards didn't require it.

The infection rate in Israel remained high over the weekend, with 1,990 new cases registered in about 48 hours.

There are 18,295 active patients in Israel, including 134 in serious condition, of them 49 on life support.

Since the outbreak, 37,463 Israelis have contracted the virus. 18,814 have recovered and 354 have died.