Three more people have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in Israel to 15, the Health Ministry confirmed on Wednesday.
One of the patients returned from a trip to Italy on February 29, while the other two contracted the virus from a manager of a toy store in central Israel, who tested positive for coronavirus last week, four days after also returning from a trip to Italy. One of the two infected is a teenager who worked part-time at the "Red Pirate" store in Or Yehuda, while the other is a customer, a deputy principal of a school in southern Israel.
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Quarantine teams outside the 'Red Pirate' store in central Israel
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
Italy is now among the countries severely affected by the health crisis, with 79 confirmed fatalities and over 2,502 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus. Last week the Health Ministry issued a travel warning to the country, adding that anyone returning from the European state must immediately self-quarantine for 14 days.
The patient who returned from Italy on Saturday, arrived via an EasyJet airline flight number EJU3342 at 4:30 pm.
The Health Ministry asks all passengers who were on the same flight to immediately self-quarantine for two weeks and report to the ministry online or via phone.
3 View gallery
Quarantine teams outside the 'Red Pirate' store in central Israel
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
The ministry also confirmed the infected store employee attends a ninth-grade high school in Brenner Regional Council in central Israel. As a result, the school said they're cancelling studies for all classes starting Wednesday and all 1150 students will enter a two-week quarantine until 12 of March.
The store’s manager was diagnosed with the illness last Thursday. He attended work for at three days before being taken to the hospital with symptoms of the virus. The man's wife has since also contracted coronavirus. The couple lives in the community of Irus, located south of Rishon LeZion in central Israel, but are currently in quarantine at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
On Sunday, a female soldier who also worked at the store tested positive for the virus.
Two of the 15 Israelis who contracted the virus since the start of the outbreak have since have fully recovered. The rest are currently in the dedicated quarantine area at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv.