Israeli Minister Diagnosed with COVID-19, Senior Officials Enter Quarantine

Jerusalem, 2 August, 2020 (TPS) -- Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Rafi Peretz announced Saturday evening that he has been diagnosed with the Coronavirus (COVID-19), sending other senior officials into quarantine.

“When the Shabbat came out, I learned that I was found to be positive with the Coronavirus following a test I did on Friday. I am currently feeling well and wish a complete cure for all Israel’s patients.”

Peretz met with a number of ministers last Sunday at the weekly cabinet meeting, and Ministers Zeev Elkin, Orly Levy-Abakesis and Yaakov Avitan went into quarantine following his announcement.

Minister Yaacov Litzman was also in the room but does have to go into isolation because he has already been sick with Coronavirus earlier this year.

Knesset Officer Superintendent Yosef Griff stated that he has asked anyone who has been in contact with Peretz to stay at home and not come to work until he receives instructions from the Ministry of Health.

Jerusalem’s District Commander, Police Superintendent Doron Yadid also entered quarantine after meeting with Peretz last week.

Deputy Commander of the Jerusalem district Eli Kazari is replacing Yadid in his absence.

Mebers of Knesset Avi Dichter, Osnat Mark and Eli Cohen entered quarantine after meeting with verified COVID-19 patients.

The Ministry of Health updated Sunday morning that it registered 1,358 Corona patients in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of active patients in the country to 26,127.

328 patients are hospitalized in serious condition, of them 96 are on life support.

A total of 72,218 cases have been recorded on Israel since the outbreak, the majority of them in the past month.

45,098 of the patients have recovered while 527 have died.