Health Ministry Deputy: Children, teens can catch coronavirus

"They won't die, but they could be infected," Grotto said, adding that patients should be home-quarantined and not hospitalized if possible, criticizing Sheba Medical Center's new isolation unit.

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
Health Ministry Deputy Director-General Prof. Itamar Grotto (photo credit: JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH)
Health Ministry Deputy Director-General Prof. Itamar Grotto
(photo credit: JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH)
Health Ministry Deputy Director-General Prof. Itamar Grotto said that children and teens can catch the coronavirus, contradicting a statement made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night.
"Children and teenagers can catch the virus, it's just that the chances of their situations becoming severe are low," Grotto said during an interview with the Hebrew media. "They won't die, but they could be infected."
Grotto, who was among the first to travel to Japan to meet the Israelis who were infected with coronavirus while on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and who was in quarantine himself, said that he expects the spread of the virus to increase.
"We estimate that the number will reach thousands, possibly even tens of thousands of patients," Grotto said in an interview with Israel's Channel 12 on Sunday. "Unfortunately the situation is unpreventable. Many of these patients will need to go to the hospital." 
However, he noted that between 80% and 90% of patients will have only light symptoms at most. 
"They will only need to stay in isolation until they recover," he said. "They will not need any special treatment. 
He then criticized the isolation unit at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, where the first coronavirus patients were all housed, calling the unit an "unnecessary display that does more harm than good."
He said patients should be home-quarantined and not hospitalized. He called attempts to isolate those diagnosed with the virus extreme and said that "quarantine to curb the spread of the disease should be easier."