Assuta Hospital in Ashdod has closed the doors on its specially created ward for Covid-19 Coronavirus patients due to there being a lack of patients. This is the first time that the hospital has done so.

In an interview held with the Jerusalem Post, Head of the Infectious Disease Unit at Assuta Ashdod, Dr. Tal Brosh, said: “The unit still exists, but it is empty,” he said. Brosh did state that the hospital is leaving the facility intact in order to be able to treat news cases of infected patients should they arrive. “It is still very dynamic and I predict we are going to have more patients in the near future. The party is not over.”

On Thursday, the hospital hung a sign on the unit’s door that read, “Coronavirus Unit: Closed with 0 patients.” Thus far, Assuta Ashdod has treated 73 coronavirus patients, including some of the country’s youngest. Among the patients treated were a few in serious condition.

Brosh said that the unit’s staff, which had been recruited from other wards in the hospital, will now return to their original departments but remain on call should other patients arrive.

Ashdod, a city of more than 225,000 has seen 281 people contact the coronavirus according to the Health Ministry report.  Thus far, 154 people have made a complete recovery.

According to the Post, there are six other hospitals in Israel that no longer have any Covid-19 patients. They are – the Italian Hospital in Nazareth, Al Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, Schneider Hospital in Tel Aviv, St. Louis French Hospital in Jerusalem, Ziv Medical Center in Tzefat, and Carmel Medical Center in Haifa.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)