The Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv reported on Wednesday evening that the condition of coronavirus patient number 71 has worsened.
He is now listed in serious condition and has been anesthetized.
Prof. Ronen Ben-Ami, director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Ichilov, said that the patient was being given experimental treatment for the coronavirus using a drug called chloroquine, which is used to treat malaria. He added that there are initial signs that the drug is also effective against the coronavirus.
The patient is an employee of the Israel Airports Authority in his 60s who suffered from fever for 10 days and, despite the fact that his family repeatedly called Magen David Adom and the Ministry of Health to request that he be examined, the health system refused to send him a team to examine him.
Earlier this week, he was admitted to the internal department at Ichilov and subsequently released. On Tuesday he returned to the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was admitted to a regular ward without isolation because he did not meet the criteria set by the Health Ministry to conduct a test for coronavirus.
Following the incident, it was decided to place 16 staff members in the internal ward where the patient was hospitalized in isolation and it has also been closed until further notice.