Staffer at Israeli embassy in Greece diagnosed with coronavirus

Athens mission closed and disinfected, investigation will be held to discover who he was in contact with; Health Ministry says more than 22,000 Israelis now in home quarantine; buses to keep first row empty as buffer between driver and passengers
Ynet|
An employee of the Israeli Embassy in Athens was confirmed Monday to have coronavirus and has also infected two family members.
  • Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter
  • The man was on a flight from Israel to Greece with Greek pilgrims later diagnosed to have coronavirus.
    3 View gallery
    3082
    3082
    Travellers wear masks at Ben-Gurion International Airport
    The Israeli Embassy in Athens will be closed for rest of Sunday and disinfected and an investigation will be conducted to find out who else the employee has been in contact with.
    Israel is expected to expand the list of countries from where returning nationals will need to spend 14 days in quarantine. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that a decision will be taken whether to simply expand home quarantine to all people returning from abroad.
    Meanwhile, the Transportation Ministry has decided in the last 24 hours to try to reduce contact between bus drivers and passengers, in an effort to protect the health of public transport users.
    A letter sent by Amir Asraf, the director of the National Transportation Authority, set out new regulations for drivers, including the decision to ban passengers from sitting close to the driver.
    According to the regulations, the first row of seats on every bus will remain empty to create a buffer between passengers and driver during the journey. Israeli buses operate a payment by swipe card scheme.
    3 View gallery
    טיהור אוטובוס בצפון מקדוניה
    טיהור אוטובוס בצפון מקדוניה
    Buses being disinfected in northern Israel amid coronavirus fears
    (Photo: Reuters)
    The Health Ministry said Monday that more than 22,000 Israelis are now in home quarantine and that most of those with the virus have light symptoms.
    Nonetheless, the man who drove the Greek pilgrims during their visit to the Holy Land is still in serious condition in Poriya Hospital in Tiberias and the manager of a toy store in center of the country who visited Italy.
    The ministry said Sunday that 13 more people have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in Israel to 39. For the first time, health officials cannot trace the source of the infection of one of the patients.
    According to the ministry, seven of the patients recently returned from European countries, including Italy, Spain, Austria and Belgium, while the other six contracted the virus in Israel after coming in direct contact with people already infected with COVID-19.
    Thirty-six people are still hospitalized with the virus, including a 38-year-old East Jerusalem man who remains in serious condition after driving a group of Greek pilgrims who tested positive for the virus upon their arrival in Greece. Three others appear to have recovered from the illness.
    For the first time since the start of the outbreak in early February, the health authorities said they couldn't trace the source of the infection of a 40-year-old patient who lives in central Israel.
    One of the patients who returned from the Spanish resort of Tenerife on March 3 has been identified as a woman from the northern city of Haifa, who has been in home-quarantine since her arrival in Israel. She flew from Tenerife to Madrid on Iberia Flight 3943, and from Madrid to Tel Aviv on Iberia Flight 3316.
    3 View gallery
     אוריה ודבורה לזר תושבי באר שבע
     אוריה ודבורה לזר תושבי באר שבע
    Israelis arriving in Israel from Italy on Sunday
    (Photo: Nadav Abas)
    Another patient returned from Austria on March 5 and is also a resident of northern Israel. He had landed in the country at 6:05 pm and took a train from Ben Gurion Airport to the city of Acre. He has been in self-quarantine since then.
    The third patient is a 60-year-old Jerusalem resident who has been in self-quarantine since March 6.
    Comments
    The commenter agrees to the privacy policy of Ynet News and agrees not to submit comments that violate the terms of use, including incitement, libel and expressions that exceed the accepted norms of freedom of speech.
    ""