The son of an Israeli man who tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, attended the local school for days before he began showing symptoms and fears of the spread arose within the family.
The Health Ministry revealed earlier that an Israeli national who arrived on a flight from Italy at the start of the week tested positive for the deadly COVID-19 virus. The ministry ordered the rest of the passengers on board the El Al flight LY382 that landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday afternoon to immediately self-quarantine for 14 days and report to the ministry via their website.
The man is a resident of a small community, Gan Raveh Regional Council in central Israel, while the son is a student at a school located in Brenner Regional Council near the city of Rehovot.
Health officials say the man was tested for the virus Wednesday, after he began showing symptoms of the disease, with the lab results coming back in the early hours of Thursday. He was taken to the dedicated quarantine area at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv.
Members of the infected man’s immediate family, who did not travel to Italy, have also all been tested for the illness put into quarantine.
The Brenner Regional Council emphasized the patient’s son is not a resident of the community and only attends the local school.
“The council and the school’s staff are in constant contact with the health and education ministries,” said the statement. “We will act and update as the situation develops.”
On Wednesday, health officials announced anyone returning from Italy must remain in quarantine for a period of 14 days, making it the first European nation to be put on a travel advisory list that so far included Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and China, where the virus originated.