5-Month-Old Baby Dies Of COVID-19 Complications After Struggling To Breathe

KEY POINTS

The child suffered from serious illnesses from the time of his birth
The infant had breathing difficulties after contracting COVID-19
The child died despite efforts made to save him

A 5-month-old boy died of COVID-19 in Jerusalem after suffering from breathing difficulties due to the disease.

The child, who was admitted to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, died Monday.

The unidentified child suffered from serious background illnesses from the time of his birth, the Jerusalem Post reported. The infant had been suffering from serious respiratory illness, and died despite the doctors' best efforts to save him. The exact illness the child had from birth has not been revealed.

The infant's death added him to the youngest of Israel’s 9,581 victims, who have died after getting infected with coronavirus, according to the Times of Israel. It was not known how the child contracted the virus, and if his parents had tested positive for COVID-19.

Local media did not reveal when the infant was admitted to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center.

Prof. Eran Segal of Weizmann Institute -- a public research university in the country -- wrote Monday on Twitter that now the peak of the Omicron wave has passed, it was time to review what was and wasn't done during its height.

Segal explained the predictions that had been made by the government’s coronavirus cabinet at the start of the wave, and compared it with the data in order to assess how accurate the predictions had been.

“This wave had (and will continue to have) a very heavy price on the psyche, on the seriously ill, and it disrupted everyone’s daily routine,” he summarized in his tweet. “It is therefore impossible to talk about a pandemic in terms of success. The question that needs to be asked is whether different conduct would have led to a different result and if so, how would it have been different.

“I do not know what to say and I think any firm opinion on this matter is unfounded. What is clear, however, is that a great many helpful steps have been taken, so it is clear that it could have been much worse.”

The Health Ministry revealed Monday that 2,274 Israelis were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 971 in serious condition. Of those, 264 were on ventilators. The ministry reported 31,190 new infections recorded the day before and another 11,998 since midnight, bringing active cases to 214,459.