A 47- year-old patient in the coronavirus ICU unit at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv passed away on Friday night after his ventilator tube detached and the medical staff failed to notice until it was too late, Channel 12 News reported.

Ichilov confirmed the report, adding that it is investigating the incident. “Hospital management has opened an investigation into the unusual incident and will draw the necessary conclusions,” a hospital statement said.

When a ventilator fails, audible warning beeps and alarms are heard throughout the ward but perhaps due to the overload in Israel’s coronavirus wards and a shortage of medical staff, the warnings went unheeded.

The coronavirus wards in Israel’s hospitals are overflowing with almost 2,000 virus patients, including 1,082 in serious condition, of whom 247 are ventilated.

A total of 272 coronavirus patients passed away over the past week, including 44 over the weekend, raising the death toll to 3,943.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)