An Israeli who had recently returned from Italy was diagnosed with Coronavirus, the Ministry of Health announced Saturday, bringing the number of Israelis who have contracted the virus to seven.
The Ministry of Health reported that the patient, a resident of Migdal Ha’Emek in the north, visited with his family in Milan last week, where he was infected.
The Ministry of Health published the locations that the patient visited since returning to the country and asked the public who was on the flight with him or who may have encountered him in public to enter a self-imposed quarantine for 14 days.
The arrival of Corona in Israel has sparked fear among the public. The MDA emergency service, which is entrusted with evacuating patients suspected of having been infected with the virus, reported Saturday night that it had received about 10,500 calls on its hotline, compared to 6,500 in routine.
A few cases of Corona have been recorded in Israel, mostly Israelis returning from the east or Italy, and possibly some who have come in contact with tourists from South Korea who were already ill with the virus, but there has yet to be a widespread outbreak in the country.
In France, the number of infected people with Corona rose to 73. The French government has banned public gatherings of more than 5,000 people.
In Italy, 21 people have died of the virus. In Iran, officially 43 civilians have died from the Corona, nine of them in the last day, though non-regime sources put that number at over 200. In China, 47 civilians died in the past day. In South Korea, an additional 594 cases of the virus were detected and the 18th patient has died from Corona.
Australia, the US and Thailand recorded their first death from Corona in the past day.
Israeli researchers at MIGAL Institute announced Thursday that they have made a breakthrough on the way to developing an effective vaccine against Coronavirus and expect it to be ready in the coming weeks.
The novel Coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 64 countries around the world.
At least 87,000 cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, including at least 3,000 deaths. Some 42,400 have recovered.