Health Minister Yuli Edelstein on Wednesday instructed Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman-Tov to investigate reports that Associate Director-General Prof. Itamar Grotto allowed an Israeli billionaire to skip the two-week quarantine phase after returning to Israel from overseas and to attend a party in Tel Aviv.
He was also instructed to look into the matter with all the disciplinary tools at his disposal. "The minister expects to receive answers from the inquiry by tomorrow," the minister's office said.
"Especially during a time when there is a great deal of effort to explain to the public the importance of complying with the Health Ministry's guidelines and when we call for increased enforcement, there cannot be exemptions from isolation which would endanger public health," Minister Edelstein stated
"It is a serious violation of public trust and a grave error of judgment. I will not forgive such cases," Edelstein added..
The Health Ministry announced Wednesday evening that 175 new coronavirus patients were diagnosed over the last 24 hours. The number of active coronavirus cases in Israel stands at 2,869, 31 patients are in serious condition, 22 of whom are on ventilators.
Yesterday there were 148 new cases over a 24-hour period.