After two months of daily treks to the hospital, Reuven Natan Levi, a resident of Beitar Illit, never imagined he would go home with empty hands. But sadly, his fifth child Yair became Israel’s youngest coronavirus victim on Motzei Shabbos when he passed away at only two-months-old. Yair was born with the rare autoimmune disorder, Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), and required complex surgery after birth but what ultimately took his life was the coronavirus. “Despite the complexity of his illness, he could have lived with it,” Levi told Mynet Jerusalem. “But the coronavirus was deadly for him due to his medical background. The coronavirus destroyed every healthy part of him. We saw him deteriorate day after day.

Russian scientists say the country’s Sputnik V vaccine appears safe and effective against COVID-19, according to early results of an advanced study published in a British medical journal. The news is a boost for the shot that is increasingly being purchased by nations around the world who are desperate to stop the devastation caused by the pandemic. Researchers say based on their trial, which involved about 20,000 people in Russia last fall, the vaccine is about 91% effective and that the shot also appeared to prevent people from becoming severely ill with COVID-19. The study was published online Tuesday in the journal, Lancet.

Israel, along with the rest of the world, will have to learn to live with the coronavirus for a long time, a senior Israeli health official said, according to a Channel 13 News report on Monday. The grim prediction is due to the new more contagious coronavirus mutations spreading throughout the world and the fact that herd immunity cannot be achieved without vaccinating children under the age of 16, which currently cannot be carried out until lengthy trials are completed. Health officials have said in the past that 60-70% of the population must be immune to the virus in order to achieve herd immunity but that number has changed due to the more infectious variants.

A 15-month-old born to Chabad residents of Tzfat after 17 years of waiting is hospitalized in serious condition and has been sedated and ventilated after contracting the coronavirus. The toddler tested positive for the coronavirus last week and after her condition deteriorated, she was hospitalized on Friday in serious condition. On Sunday, she suffered a further deterioration in her condition and she was sedated and ventilated. The public is asked to urgently daven for the refuah of Ayala bas Chana Natalie Chantelle b’toch sha’ar cholei Yisrael. On Motzei Shabbos, a two-month-old baby from a family in Beitar that was born with medical issues and subsequently contracted the coronavirus passed away. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

As a hospice nurse, Antonio Espinoza worked to ease people’s passage into death. Just 36 years old, it seemed unlikely he soon would be on that journey. But when the unpredictable coronavirus hit Espinoza, he spiraled from fever to chills to labored breathing that sent him to a Southern California hospital, where he died Monday, a little more than a week after being admitted. Espinoza is among the latest to succumb in what has become California’s deadliest surge. An average of 544 people died every day in the last week, and on Saturday the state reached the grim milestone of 40,000 deaths overall, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. In barely a year since the virus was first detected in the state, 1 in 1,000 Californians have died from it.

Israel confirmed 5,140 new coronavirus cases on Monday morning, with tests showing a still alarmingly high positivity rate of 9.7%. There are currently 68,331 active virus cases, with 1,839 virus patients hospitalized, of whom 1,140 are seriously ill, 390 are critically ill, and 315 are ventilated. The death rate has risen to 4,796, with 1,433 deaths confirmed in the past month alone – one-third of all virus fatalities since the start of the pandemic. There are 167 seriously ill patients in their 50s, 99 patients in their 40s, 50 patients in their 30s, and 20 seriously ill patients in their 20s. Additionally, there are two teenagers and four children who are seriously ill from the virus.

A two-month-old infant died at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem on Motzei Shabbos after contracting the coronavirus on a background of serious medical issues. The baby, born to the Levy family in Beitar Illit, had been born with medical issues and had undergone complex surgery following his birth. Unfortunately, he also contracted the coronavirus and suffered damage to his lungs. It is unclear whether the coronavirus was the main factor leading to his death. The baby was cared for in Israel’s first pediatric ICU unit for coronavirus patients, opened at Hadassah Ein Kerem a little over a week ago. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Ten staff members of Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv were confirmed positive for the coronavirus over the weekend ten days after being inoculated with the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine, Channel 13 News reported on Motzei Shabbos. The staff members, who are all asymptomatic, were tested for the coronavirus by the hospital after two staff members in the department who hadn’t yet been vaccinated were diagnosed with the virus. It is unclear when the ten staff members contracted the virus. The second dose of the vaccine is expected to provide full protection from the coronavirus about a week afterward.

An Israeli 41-year-old mother of six with no preexisting medical conditions was hospitalized in the ICU in recent days in serious condition after contracting the coronavirus. To the family’s shock and dismay, on Sunday, the woman’s 15-year-old daughter who had also contracted the virus was also hospitalized in the ICU after suffering a deterioration in her condition. All seven members of the Chareidi family, residents of Ashkelon, began to feel ill about a week ago, subsequently testing positive for the coronavirus. Several days later, the mother was evacuated to Barzilai Medical Center due to breathing difficulties. Late last week, she suffered a further deterioration in her condition and was sedated and ventilated.

In the first incident of its kind, an Israeli who recovered from the coronavirus in August was reinfected with a coronavirus variant, testing positive on Sunday for the South African variant. The 57-year-old Israeli from central Israel recently returned from Turkey. He is the second Israeli to be diagnosed with the South African variant after returning from Turkey, with the 30 other Israelis diagnosed with the variant returning from South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia. Furthermore, the Health Ministry last week identified three cases of the South African variant after carrying out sequencing on a random batch of test samples, raising fears that the variant is spreading throughout Israel.