Israel’s health minister tests positive for coronavirus

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Israel’s most senior Health Minister has tested positive for coronavirus, government officials confirmed Thursday. Yaakov Litzman has entered isolation together with his wife, who also tested positive. Litzman is part of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community which, according to unofficial figures cited by Israeli TV channels Sunday, make up half the country’s hospitalized coronavirus patients.

Litzman’s diagnosis comes following officials’ frustration with parts of the ultra-Orthodox community for not following, or apparently ignoring, government guidelines on social distancing. Possible reasons for this are reported as including the normally crowded nature of ultra-Orthodox society and its members’ frequent lack of access to media communication.

As part of the Gur Hasidic faction of ultra-Orthodoxy, Litzman himself had no means of digital communication at home. Health ministry officials set up a computer and internet at his home so he could work from there while in isolation, the Times of Israel said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had to return to quarantine after contact with the health minister. The PM had just emerged Wednesday from a previous quarantine due to a senior aide testing positive. Several other senior officials, including the head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, also entered self-isolation as a result of contact with Litzman.

Israel has 6,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 28 deaths, Ynet News reported Thursday.

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