Another 25 Israelis were diagnosed with the coronavirus on Tuesday in Israel amidst the Purim festivities, raising the number of confirmed cases in the country to 75.

Patient #51 is a resident of southern Israel, who recently returned from Azerbaijan; patient # 52, a Ma’ale Adumim resident in his 80s was in contact with someone subsequently diagnosed with the virus; patient #53 is a resident of central Israel in his 40s who returned from Munich on February 27; patients #54 and #55, both in their 30s, returned from Germany to Israel on March 6th and have been in self-quarantine since; patient #56 is a Jerusalem woman in her 60s who was in contact with someone diagnosed with the virus; and patient #57 was also in contact with someone diagnosed with the virus. Patient #58 is a Tel Aviv resident who returned to Israel from Austria on March 7 and immediately entered self-quarantine; patient #59 is a 60-year-old resident of the south who returned from Spain on March 2; patient #60 is a Jerusalem resident, 29, who flew back to Israel on March 5; and patient #61 is a resident of central Israel who flew to Israel from Zurich on March 4.

The details of patients #62 – #75 are not yet known but one patient is a nine-year-old Tel Aviv resident and another patient is a career IDF soldier who returned from a vacation abroad and was in self-quarantine.

Over 100 residents of the small yishuv of Einav in the Shomron were instructed to self-quarantine after the family members of a Lubavitcher MDA medic was diagnosed with the coronavirus as well as another resident. The patient, in his 40s, is the first diagnosed case in Israel of the coronavirus of which the origin of the infection is unknown.

MDA stated that the patient did not have any contact with any patients suspected of being infected with the coronavirus during his work as a medic. MDA instructed all medics and paramedics who worked with the patient to self-quarantine and the ambulances that the patient was on have been thoroughly disinfected.

The patient’s wife and two of his children, aged 18 and 21, were diagnosed with the virus on Monday afternoon and hospitalized in Sheba Medical Center. Another daughter tested negative for the virus.

Since the mother works at the gan in Einav, her co-workers, the 33 toddlers who attend the gan and their parents were instructed by the Shomron Regional Council, in cooperation with the Health Ministry, to self-quarantine.

The patient was also in many locations in Israel before being diagnosed, including Chareidi areas and general areas of Yerushalayim, Telz-Stone, a medical clinic in the Chareidi city of Elad, Petach Tikvah, including a large supermarket and a numbers of stores in a large mall, and of course, sites in Einav such as the Chabad shul and the voting station. A full list is available on the Health Ministry website.

Patient #57 is also a resident of Einav who apparently caught the virus from the Chabad chassid and was in many public areas before being diagnosed in the city close to his moshav, Rechovot, specifically in the Chareidi areas. He was in the Chabad shul in Einav as well as several supermarkets and stores, a school, two Leumit Kupat Cholim clinics, and a shul, all in Rechovot.

Following the diagnoses on Monday, the Shomron Regional Council opened an emergency command center due to the large amount of yishuv residents required to self-quarantine, a number that is expected to rise in the coming days.

“We are in a complex and sensitive situation and difficult days still loom ahead,” Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan wrote in a letter to the community, which was sent out on Purim day on Tuesday morning following an emergency meeting of the council on Monday evening.

Also on Tuesday, the two Israelis from the Diamond Princess cruise ship still in Japan, Oded and Rochale Ofarim, are on their way to Israel. Oded was in the hospital being treated for the coronavirus and Rochale remained in Japan while her husband recovered.

The Israeli Mossad ordered all employees arriving in Israel from abroad to self-quarantine, a Kan News report said. Many Mossad “employees” may have been in high-risk countries, especially Iran.

Israel’s Defense Ministry purchased over $14,000 worth of medical equipment for the IDF (50 million NIS) to support and protect forces from the coronavirus, the largest IDF purchase since Operation Protective Edge.

The IDF, which already banned all its soldiers from traveling abroad and ordered soldiers already abroad to return to their homes rather than their bases, banned handshakes on Tuesday.

The Population and Immigration Authority reported on Tuesday that 12,246 foreigners have voluntarily left Israel since Monday night when Israel announced its decision to require all travelers from abroad to self-quarantine.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)