Baruch Padeh Medical Center has sent a delegation of top doctors to Botswana to assist the country in its fight against COVID-19, the hospital said.
The delegation left on Monday and included the hospital’s deputy director, Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, and the director of its recently closed coronavirus intensive care unit, Dr. Moshe Matan.
“We are here to share with the medical staff the vast knowledge and experience that we have accumulated during the complex treatment of the coronavirus pandemic,” Mizrahi said.
The team is working with Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital, which was newly established at the start of the pandemic and serves Botswana’s COVID-19 patients. Currently, there are 50 patients in serious condition being treated at the facility. At its peak, there were 130.
Botswana has reported more than 47,000 cases of the virus and 724 deaths among its 2.3 million citizens, according to the coronavirus tracking provided by Our World in Data. The country, located in southern Africa, started vaccinating two weeks ago. It has administered around 49,000 doses and is now waiting for another shipment.
Israeli Ambassador Gershon Keidar attended a meeting of the delegation with Health Minister Dr. Edwin Dikoloti, where he explained that Jewish tradition holds that “he who saves a life saves the entire world” and therefore the Israeli team readily responded to calls for help from the Botswana government.