Five more die of coronavirus, bringing Israel’s death toll to 26

Four of the victims said to suffer from underlying health conditions; 81 people on ventilators

By ToI Staff 1 April 2020, 5:39 pmUpdated at 10:13 pm

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Magen David Adom workers wearing protective clothing as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, seen as they evacuating a man with suspicion for coronavirus at Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem on March 30, 2020 (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

Five more people died in Israel in the later hours of Wednesday, taking the daily tally to six and the country’s total death toll from the coronavirus up to 26.

Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center announced the death of a 69-year-old woman as a result of the virus, saying she suffered from “severe and complicated” underlying health issues.

The Wolfson Medical Center in Holon minutes later announced that a 74-year-old man died from COVID-19. The hospital said he had been sedated and hooked up to a respirator in very serious condition and had numerous preexisting conditions.

The Sheba Medical Center said a 66-year-old woman also died from the coronavirus. She too was said to suffer from preexisting health problems.

Illustrative: Doctors and nurses treat a patient at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

An hour later, the Wolfson Medical Center announced its second fatality of the day — a 66-year-old man who was also said to have preexisting health issues.

Later in the evening Shaare Zedek Medical Center also announced its second fatality of the day after a 72-year-old man died of COVID-19. The hospital said he was brought to the hospital on Tuesday evening in serious condition and died in the morning after a coronavirus test was taken, which was then found to be positive.

There were no immediate details on the identities of any of the victims.

The announcements bring Wednesday’s virus death toll to five and came after the Health Ministry on Wednesday raised the tally of people infected with the coronavirus to 6,092.

There were 95 people in serious condition, three more than the previous night, with 81 of them on ventilators.

A police officer checks to make sure people are adhering to emergency directives to contain the coronavirus, in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak, on April 1, 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba on Wednesday morning announced the death of a 98-year-old woman. She had a number of “serious and complex” preexisting medical conditions, the hospital said.

There were no immediate details on her identity.

According to the Ynet news site, the woman was a resident of the Mishan assisted living facility in Beersheba, where 14 residents have been infected with the virus. Another 21 residents were in quarantine at the facility, according to the website. Last week, a 93-year-old resident died hours after testing positive for the virus.

There were five deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, including a 49-year-old single mother, the youngest person to die in Israel from the coronavirus.

Israel has been implementing increasingly stringent measures to thwart the spread of the virus, with citizens generally required to stay home.