As the coronavirus continues to spread in Europe and America, officials in Jerusalem said Tuesday that the Health Ministry is considering implementing 14-day home quarantine orders for nationals returning from Germany and France.
With that, the head of Assuta Medical Centers' Infectious Diseases Department, Dr. Tal Broshi, said that the ministry is also considering a similar order for Israelis returning from the United States.
3 View gallery
Elections officials count ballots from people in coronavirus quarantine after Monday's vote
(Photo: Central Elections Committee)
The ministry said, however, that these are merely "preliminary deliberations" and that officials have yet to make a final decision.
Israel currently insists on home-quarantine for nationals returning from Thailand, China, Japan, Singapore, Macau, South Korea, Hong Kong and Italy. The country has 12 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 5,000 people in quarantine.
Monday's Knesset election included 16 specially designated polling stations for those in quarantine.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday confirmed 17 new cases of the coronavirus and four more deaths due to the outbreak, bringing the total number of cases to 108, including among repatriated citizens.
3 View gallery
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer declines to shake hands with Angela Merkel as coronavirus spreads in Germany
(Photo: Reuters)
The total number included 60 cases of infection in 12 U.S. states, including presumed cases reported by public health laboratories that are yet to be confirmed by the CDC, as of 4 p.m. on Monday.
The number of cases among repatriated citizens from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess cruise ship stood at 48.
In Germany, the Robert Koch Institute said Tuesday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen 188, up from 157 on Monday afternoon.
Thirteen of Germany's 16 federal states have now reported cases of the novel coronavirus, with the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia being most affected, according to the RKI.
Germany has not reported a fatal case of the virus, which emerged in the Chinese metropolis Wuhan late last year and is quickly spreading around the world.
In France, a fourth person has died due to coronavirus infection, and French President Emmanuel Macron warned the health crisis could last several months.
"During the period we are going through and that we will go through - because we have entered a phase that will last weeks even possibly months - it is paramount to show clarity, resilience, nerves and determination to slow the epidemic...and then fight it," Macron told a crisis cell at the Health Ministry.
Health Minister Olivier Veran told parliament earlier that France now has 204 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, up from 191 on Monday.
The fourth victim was a 92-year-old man in the Morbihan department in the western region of Brittany.
Macron has also signed a decree to requisition all stock and production of protective face masks.
They will be distributed to health professionals and people infected with the coronavirus, Macron said on his website.