“I met my family members at the airport and we cried tears of joy.”
Rachel Biton, the Israeli who recovered from the coronavirus in Japan, has returned to Israel.
Earlier today, Biton arrived at the airport where she underwent an additional test to ensure she does not have the virus. After receiving a clean bill of health, she was reunited with her family.
She underwent numerous tests in Japan to ensure that she no longer had any trace of the highly contagious virus before being released, as well.
Biton, who lives in Eilat and is in her 70s, was one of four Israelis hospitalized in isolation in Japan after contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship. More than 600 people on the boat caught the coronavirus.
The returning Israeli released statements via a spokesperson from the airport. She said that upon her release from the hospital, the local Chabad met her and helped ensure her return to the country.
“I met my family members at the airport and we cried tears of joy,” Biton said, noting that the family celebrated with a thanksgiving party. On a video she can be seen thanking God for her recovery.
Biton also thanked the Health and Foreign ministries, and specifically Health Ministry director-general Prof. Itamar Grotto and Prof. Ran Nir-Paz from Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center.
Three Israelis remain hospitalized in Japan. The other 11 Israelis who were aboard the afflicted cruise ship returned on February 21 and have been in quarantine at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, since then. Two of the returnees have been diagnosed with the virus.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post