Over 22,000 coronavirus tests conducted in Israel from midnight Sunday to midnight Monday resulted in 1,792 confirmed cases, the Health Ministry reported Tuesday morning.
The COVID death toll in Israel as of Tuesday stood at 546, while 333 patients were listed in seriously condition, including 102 on ventilators. Another 140 patients were listed in moderate condition. In total, the number of corona patients hospitalized in Israel stood at 769.
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There were 24,598 active or symptomatic cases nationwide.
The COVID treatment units at Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Center, Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, and Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem were at full capacity. The rest of the dedicated coronavirus units at other medical facilities had beds available.
On Monday, Esther Agmon, chairwoman of the Israel Association of Biochemists, Microbiologists, and Laboratory Workers, told the Knesset Corona committee that despite the government promising funds for an additional 200 lab workers to help process coronavirus tests, only 40 had been hired.
Agmon pointed out that the low salaries – which she said have not been raised since 1995 -- made it difficult to recruit new workers. Meanwhile, while laboratory works used to hold BA degrees, now many of them are PhDs or hold post-doctoral degrees, but are expected to work for the same pay.
Agmon said that since 2019, 20% of the staff at Israel's medical laboratories had left, meaning that the country went into the coronavirus epidemic with a shortage of trained personnel.
"The Health Ministry raised the hourly wages of workers dealing with coronavirus by 25 shekels [$7.33], on the condition that they work 235 hours a month, instead of 175. That agreement should apply to all laboratory staff," Agmon told the committee.
Committee Chairwoman MK Yifat Shasha-Biton said that the lab positions "should be staffed as soon as possible."
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Also Monday, an employee at a large hospital in central Israel who tested positive for coronavirus and was ordered to quarantine himself violated quarantine protocol and flew abroad, Channel 12 News reported Monday.
The patient took a Turkish Airlines flight from Ben-Gurion International Airport to Istanbul. From Istanbul, he flew to Ukraine. The patient reportedly had active COVID symptoms and had not yet recovered, and never informed anyone that he intended to leave Israel.
The Israeli Embassy in Ukraine, as well as law enforcement in Israel and the Ukraine have been informed about the incident, as has the airline.
The patient could face prison time if convicted for intentionally spreading disease.
Meanwhile, the coordinator of Israel's national effort to stem the spread of coronavirus Professor Ronni Gamzu put out a video on Monday urging the public to be tested if they noted any coronavirus symptoms. Gamzu said that tests were vital to stopping the epidemic, and that testing could reduce the amount of time patients had to spend in quarantine.
Also on Monday, Gamzu faced off with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting of the government's corona cabinet on Monday over whether or not weekend shutdowns should remain in place.
Gamzu said that in his opinion, there were no grounds to continue the shutdowns, but Netanyahu said that the most important thing to do was to reduce the spread of the virus.
Netanyahu said the government needed an orderly plan that would provide a solution to the pressing matter of weekend activity.
Netanyahu's office said that the prime minister had instructed ministry professionals to prepare a plan to stop the spread of coronavirus and present it to the cabinet within 48 hours.
At Monday's meeting, the ministers did not reach any decision about what steps the government should take next, and agreed to reconvene on Wednesday.
Shimon Yaish and Maytal Yasur Beit-Or contributed to this report.
