Coronavirus cases surge to nearly 8,500, death toll creeps closer to 50

Some 106 people are on respirators.

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN, YONAH JEREMY BOB
Magen David Adom worker wearing protective gear against the coronavirus in Israel (photo credit: FLASH90)
Magen David Adom worker wearing protective gear against the coronavirus in Israel
(photo credit: FLASH90)
Five more people died on Sunday, bringing the country's death toll to 49, as the number of patients hit 8,430 by day's end.
Among the latest victims, all over the age of 60 with preexisting medical conditions, was an 84-year-old woman, the sixth person to pass away from the Mishan senior living facility in the South and the fourth in the last three days.
Some 139 people with coronavirus are in serious condition, among them 106 who are intubated, the Health Ministry showed.
The rise in patients has not stopped all people from breaking the Health Ministry’s guidelines. Police said that a coronavirus patient was arrested on Sunday on a public bus which was making its way on Route 1 toward Jerusalem for violation of his quarantine.
Police stopped the bus en route and placed a fine on the patient. The bus driver was also fined NIS 5,000 for allowing more than the allowed amount of people onto his bus, a violation made more serious by the patient who violated his quarantine.
As a result of the mixture between violations, all 33 passengers and the driver have gone into quarantine, while the patient is currently in police custody.
At the same time, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit issued a statement rebuking residents of yishuvim and other villages who have taken the law into their own hands by preventing entry to their areas due to the coronavirus situation.
Mandelblit said that only the Israel police have the authority to restrict movement into and out of specific areas. The attorney-general said he issued the statement after complaints had been filed to the police over the situation and the police had asked for guidance.