WarSclerotic

Four more Israelis have died of the coronavirus, bringing the country’s death toll to 12, as the number of infections nationwide climbed to 3,035.

The Soroka Medical Center on Friday morning said 93-year-old Avraham Aroshas was brought to the hospital from the nursing home where he lived. He had a fever and shortness of breath and had “complicated and difficult underlying illnesses,” the Beersheba-based hospital said. He tested positive for the virus and hours later succumbed to the illness, according to the statement.

A 76-year-old woman with preexisting health conditions also died of the virus, the Sharon Hospital in Petah Tikva announced Friday morning.

She was identified as Dalia Edelsborg from the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan. She recently returned from a trip to Egypt and appeared to have contracted the virus there, the Ynet news site reported.

Shaul Fari, 73, who died of the coronavirus on March 27, 20202 (Courtesy)

Hours later, a 73-year-old man was pronounced dead as a result of the virus at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. He was identified as Shaul Farhi. He reportedly caught the virus on a trip to Tenerife in Spain.

On Friday afternoon, the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon said that an 80-year-old man had died. He had been in a serious condition for several days.

The number of Israelis diagnosed with the coronavirus has risen to 3,035, the Health Ministry said Friday morning. Of them, 49 are in serious condition and 60 are in moderate condition.

Some 45 Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, while 4,156 are in quarantine, the IDF said on Thursday.

Of the 12 fatalities in the country, three died on Thursday.

One of the three was an 89-year-old woman being treated at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem.

“This is a patient with preexisting conditions who a week ago already was categorized as being in critical condition and was treated with devotion during her entire hospitalization by the department staff, who did everything possible to ease her suffering,” the hospital said in a statement.

Another was an 83-year-old man from Bnei Brak who had preexisting conditions. Wolfson Medical Center in Holon said earlier that the third victim was a 91-year-old woman.

Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, the director-general of the Health Ministry, told the Knesset’s coronavirus committee on Thursday that he believes that in a week from now Israel will have 200 people in serious condition from COVID-19.

Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman-Tov is seen at a coronavirus drive-through testing site in Tel Aviv on March 20, 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The next two weeks will be “critical,” Bar Siman-Tov said Thursday, warning there is high potential for further spread of the virus. “We’re really scared of Passover and Ramadan,” he said. “These crowds are the most dangerous.”

Israel has been placed under lockdown to stem the virus, with Israelis permitted to leave their homes only for essential reasons, such as buying food and medicine or seeking medical care.