Coronavirus prep continues with 100 ventilators on their way to Israel

The details presented by Ben Shabbat show that there is a severe shortage of ventilators in Israel.

A ventilator is seen at the New York City Emergency Management Warehouse (photo credit: REUTERS)
A ventilator is seen at the New York City Emergency Management Warehouse
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A shipment of 100 ventilators will arrive in Israel on Friday night as part of continuing efforts by the medical equipment procurement operations room to bring medical supplies to Israel in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, according to Channel 12 news.
The operations room is run by the Health and Defense Ministries and the Mossad.
Meir Ben Shabbat, the head of the National Security Council, presented details on the procurement of medical supplies to the special ministerial committee on coronavirus headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night, explaining the goals of the plan and how far away the country is from achieving those goals.
The details presented by Ben Shabbat show that there is a severe shortage of ventilators in Israel, according to Channel 12. The Health Ministry set a goal to procure 7,000 ventilators and there are 3,051 ventilators currently in the country, but only 1,869 ventilators are currently available for use.
Ben Shabbat recommended that the country "examine the Baltic and Scandinavian countries and the rapid test kits (reliability and supply capacity) reported by Russia," according to Channel 12.
The number of daily tests sits at 5,312, according to Ben Shabbat, despite the goal of 30,000 tests a day. 10,095 Israelis were confirmed as having been infected with the coronavirus as of Friday morning, with 125 people on ventilators and 164 people in serious condition.