A mother visits her child in the neonatal unit at the Mexico Hospital in San Jose, Costa Rica, April 28, 2020.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict still shows no sign of easing. Palestinian militants have fired more rockets into Israel amid a rising death toll. Israeli hospitals were moved, with neonatal wards the first to be moved to bomb shelters.
The Chaim Sheba Medical Center in the central Israeli city of Ramat Gan, one of the country’s largest hospitals, has experienced several rocket alerts in the past few days. On Friday (14), the medical center turned the underground parking lot formerly used as a ward for the Chinese Communist Virus (COVID-19) into a bomb shelter ward for newborns. Dozens of babies were moved there.
The neonatal unit was the first unit to be moved to a safe area. But a spokesman for the center explained that they had the capacity to move up to 600 beds.
As the pandemic raged, the hospital set up a ward in its parking lot for critically ill patients with the CCP virus, which contained about 40 beds. With the dramatic decline of the CCP virus epidemic in Israel, the hospital closed their special wards and now they are being reactivated.
In southern and central Israel, several hospitals are also relocating wards located in unprotected areas of the building to safe areas.
On Thursday, Kaplan Medical Center in the central Israeli city of Rehovot announced a reorganization of wards, moving several wards to secure areas for patients who needed treatment and could not be evacuated in the event of a rocket attack. In total, about 180 patients were relocated and some wards were combined.
“The safety of patients and hospital staff is our top priority,” said Dr. Sarit Avishai-Eliner, director of Kaplan Medical Center. As the firepower against the area increased, they decided to relocate the department, which is located on a high floor.
Avishai-Eliner added, “We are following the developments. Despite the security threats, we will continue to be prepared for any situation and provide the best medical care and response for our patients.”
U.S. and Arab diplomats are seeking to calm the situation. After a night of violence, militants fired about 200 rockets at Israeli cities and Israeli aircraft struck buildings used by Hamas.
Israel has reported eight deaths, including a soldier at the Gaza border and six civilians, two of them children.
Thousands of Israelis ran to shelters amid sirens that sounded throughout the night. Police said a rocket fired from Gaza hit a residential building in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. According to media reports, some people were injured as they rushed to the shelter.
Regional and international diplomatic efforts have yet to show signs that the conflict will stop. In central and southern Israel, from towns bordering Gaza to the metropolitan areas of Beersheba and Tel Aviv, people have adjusted their lives to take cover as quickly as they can at the sound of sirens, radio and television warnings or red alert messages on their cell phones.
Recent Comments