Man with virus arrested on bus near Jerusalem for fleeing quarantine, knowingly endangering public health

Police arrest a man infected with the coronavirus who had allegedly broken quarantine, as he rode on a public bus to Jerusalem.

According to Channel 12 news, the man knew he had the coronavirus but got on the 960 bus in Haifa.

His family called the police to alert them to the danger after he left quarantine and got on a bus to Jerusalem, the network reports.

He had returned from overseas 13 days ago, and this morning was informed that he had tested positive for the virus.

It was unclear if he had been in quarantine at a hospital or a state-run facility.

The 34 other passengers on the bus are sent to quarantine after the bus was stopped on Route 1, police say.

Video footage shows the suspect, an ultra-Orthodox man in his 30s from the Beitar Illit settlement, being led by Magen David Adom paramedics in medical gear to an ambulance. He is reported to be known to the welfare authorities in the settlement.

If the reports are fully accurate, and he knowingly endangered the public, he faces up to seven years in jail, Channel 12 says.

Police officer Sigal Bar-Tzvi tells Channel 12 this is the third or fourth incident in which someone who knew they were sick left a hospital or another quarantine facility and endangered public health. She says there was another incident in the north in which a patient also used public transportation.

Bar-Tzi adds that the driver of the 960 bus was fined NIS 5,000 because he exceeded a limit on carrying up to 25 passengers on a bus.