7 Israeli public hospitals threaten to turn away COVID patients

By Mustafa Deveci

JERUSALEM (AA) –Seven public hospitals in Israel have threatened to stop admitting new coronavirus patients starting Monday, citing budgetary problems and a shortage of personnel.

The directors of the hospitals held a press conference Sunday in front of the Health Ministry building in West Jerusalem to draw attention to the difficulties they are facing because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ofer Marin, director of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, said the government did not fulfill its promise of providing around 1 billion shekels ($308.7 million) in assistance to public hospitals where coronavirus patients are treated beginning in January this year.

With the effects of the Delta variant of the virus, the virus has started to spread rapidly again and the burden on hospitals has been gradually increasing.

The country has so far confirmed over 990,500 cases and 6,830 coronavirus-related deaths.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 4.43 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 211.78 million cases reported worldwide, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan