Twenty-four geriatric patients in Laniado Hospital in Netanya contracted the coronavirus following an outbreak in the hospital in recent days, Army Radio reported on Wednesday morning.

Laniado opened a new coronavirus ward to treat the new cases and is struggling to contain the outbreak amid a shortage of testing kits.

According to what Prof. Tzvi Shimoni, medical director of Laniado, told Army Radio, most of the geriatric patients are asymptomatic.

The outbreak was discovered as a result of a geriatric patient being sent to the emergency room and testing positive for the coronavirus. All of the patients in the geriatric ward were subsequently tested for the virus as well as staff members, some of whom tested positive as well.

The source of the outbreak is currently unknown and according to Shimoni, since so many people have tested positive, an epidemiological investigation would be unlikely to pinpoint the source of the outbreak at this point.

Shimoni added that Laniado is not the only hospital experiencing a shortage of testing kits since there is currently a nationwide shortage.

There are currently 814 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus in Israel’s hospitals.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)