Israeli corona patient jumps from hospital window

Man who was hospitalized a week ago with coronavirus leaps from window after showing signs of stress. Government urged to establish psychiatric committee as pandemic stress mounts.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

A 34-year-old man who was hospitalized in mild condition after being diagnosed with coronavirus jumped out of a window and was seriously injured, Israel’s Channel 12 reported Sunday.

Over the past week the patient spoke several times with social workers at Poriah Hospital in the city of Tiberias, located on the Sea of Galilee. Police are investigating the circumstances of the incident.

The man was found lying on the ground outside the area of the hospital that is designated for coronavirus isolation and had apparently jumped from a third-floor window.

He was rushed to the emergency ward and will need surgery, the report said.

The man had spent time in solitary isolation due to the infection.

“We are repeatedly alerted to the serious mental consequences that are likely to occur due to the epidemic outbreak and call on the government to immediately establish a national psychiatric steering committee,” said Dr. Zvi Fishel, head of the Israel Psychiatric Association.

Fishel said his organization urged the public not to hesitate to get in touch with distress centers.

“Distress and anxiety are natural and common reactions for everyone, but feelings of extreme suffering require assessment and professional help,” Fishel said.

Two weeks ago, a patient infected with the coronavirus tried to escape from the isolation wing where he was being treated at Wolfson Hospital in Holon, just south of Tel Aviv. The man violently broke out of the ward before police arrived on the scene and helped return the patient to his room.

“A patient who returned from skiing in Austria who was diagnosed as being sick with corona violated his isolation condition,” Wolfson Hospital said.

“After four days of hospitalization, he violently broke through the window and burst through the doors of the isolation room,” the hospital said, adding that staff were providing the best care possible and noted his attempt to leave “jeopardized public health.”

As of Tuesday 4,831 Israelis were confirmed to have the infection, 83 of them hospitalized in serious condition. To date 17 Israelis have died and officials fear tens of thousands more may become infected.