Netanyahu Goes into Quarantine over Coronavirus  

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced that Benjamin Netanyahu and those close to him in the government were quarantined.

They complied with the decision of the Israeli Ministry of Health and Netanyahu's private physician. According to the source, they are prohibited from leaving the quarantine before the results of the examination appear later.

Israeli sources indicated that the religious adviser of Netanyahu Rebecca Baloch was infected with the coronavirus after it was confirmed that her husband was infected with the deadly virus.

The Israeli Ministry of Health stated that an additional 100 people were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus. The new infections bring the total number of confirmed cases to 4,743, while the number of deaths was 15 cases.

The spying Israeli agency (Mossad) has brought 100,000 coronavirus test kits to Israel from abroad overnight Wednesday. But according to Health Ministry deputy director-general Itamar Grotto, "unfortunately, what they brought is not exactly what we were lacking."

Various components are involved in the tests, and the Mossad did not bring them all back, he said.

Specifically, the tests were missing a patented liquid into which the testing sticks need to be dipped before screening can be administered, a Magen David Adom (David Red Star) spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post. Without it, the test cannot be done.

"Netanyahu is using his connections around the world now to try to obtain this liquid as early as Friday," the spokesperson said.

The Mossad mission was revealed Thursday by N12 and was independently confirmed by the Post. The report came the same day that the Health Ministry committed to increasing the number of tests conducted daily in Israel to at least 3,000 and soon too as many as 5,000.

Magen David Adom is scheduled to open its first drive-through testing center in Tel Aviv by Sunday. Five more are expected to be opened across the country within a few days.

Thursday morning, the ministry said in a note to the public: Because the number of examining sites has risen (20 labs) and the number of daily examinations is higher than before (more than 2,200 tests yesterday and the number continues to rise), so gathering and summarizing all the data including the number of people who tested positive for coronavirus will take longer.

"I want to thank the security forces of the State of Israel," Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov said shortly after the mission ended.

"The ministry received the test kits from the Mossad on Thursday, and they were important and proper kits to use for our coronavirus testing," he said.

"We are continuing work with the Mossad to obtain the additional necessary equipment, which, as MDA said, would make using the tests possible," he added.