Worker at presidential ceremony had COVID; Herzog tests negative for virus
Employee at the president’s residence was reportedly vaccinated; so far, none others infected
A woman present at the ceremony where Israel’s former president Reuven Rivlin handed over to new president Isaac Herzog last week tested positive for COVID-19, according to Sunday television reports.
The vaccinated employee at the president’s official residence was confirmed Sunday to be infected with the coronavirus. She was present during the ceremony last Wednesday, Channel 13 news reported.
The staff member was working for Rivlin, according to the report. Those who came in close contact with her will self-isolate until their test results return negative.
Among those sent to be tested was the new president, according to the report. Herzog and around 10 others received negative test results Sunday.
There are still a number of people who came in contact with the woman who are still waiting for results, Channel 13 said.
The incident at the president’s residence in Jerusalem came amid a rise in coronavirus cases in the country,
The Health Ministry said Sunday that 263 new cases had been detected the day before, with 0.6 percent of tests coming back positive, similar to the rate in recent days, but slightly higher than last month’s positivity rate, which hovered near zero on some days.
There were 3,984 active cases and 47 serious cases. The death toll was at 6,438 after six deaths were confirmed in the last few days, following almost two weeks of no fatalities.
The ministry said 5,729,178 Israelis have received at least one vaccine dose, and 5,191,909 have been fully vaccinated.
Health officials have linked the recent spike in infections in Israel to travelers who brought back new variants of the virus from abroad and did not properly quarantine after arriving.
The resurgence of coronavirus in Israel has been largely attributed to the spread of the Delta variant, which was first detected in India and is believed to be twice as contagious as the original COVID strain.
