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At least 65 members of a 114-strong Chabad Lubavitch group that has been under quarantine in a Jerusalem hotel after arriving from New York City last week have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to reports.
The Hasidic travelers were housed at the Dan Hotel after being told at Ben Gurion Airport they would not be allowed to home quarantine because they arrived from a major hotspot, according to the Times of Israel.
All of the infected travelers were to be transferred to the Shmuel HaRofeh Medical Center, while 41 others remain at the hotel, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Eight of the travelers were still being tested and a decision about them was to be made once the results were available, according to the newspaper.
The boarding of their El Al flight on Wednesday was delayed amid fears that some of the passengers may have been infected, the Times of Israel reported.
Passengers were required to sign a declaration stating they were not experiencing any symptoms of illness and that they had not been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 in the prior two weeks.
They also had to agree that making a false declaration would constitute a criminal offense, the Times of Israel reported.
The Israeli Defense Ministry, which previously reported that 15 of the Chabad Lubavitch group tested positive, updated the numbers on Sunday.
Their flight took off a day after the Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Crown Heights was shut down for the first time ever.
Despite the closure, dozens of men congregated at the site on Wednesday to conduct prayers amid a citywide ban of more than 50 people gathering in one spot.
A video later emerged showing the Sheriff’s Office dispersing the large prayer group after a cluster of positive cases was confirmed among Orthodox Jewish communities in Borough Park and Williamsburg, leading their Satmar rebbe to issue an edict to close all religious buildings.
Other videos also showed members of the Orthodox Jewish and Hasidic communities openly defying social distancing orders by hosting crowded weddings.
Israeli health officials said they notified El Al, the national airline, about the infections and that efforts are underway to contact the roughly 200 other passengers who were aboard the flight so they can self-quarantine.
The country has mandated that everyone arriving from abroad must remain in quarantine for 14 days.
According to the latest tally, 1,238 people have been diagnosed with the virus and one person — an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor — has died from it in Israel.
