Oshri Asulin, from Kfar Saba, said to have developed heart condition usually only found in children

Oshri Asulin (Facebook)
Oshri Asulin (Facebook)

 

A 26-year-old man died Sunday evening from a rare complication of COVID-19, becoming the youngest person to die in Israel of the novel coronavirus.

Oshri Asulin, from Kfar Saba, was sedated and in intensive care for over a month before his death, Hebrew media reported. He died at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, where he was being treated.

The Health Ministry did not immediately confirm him to be a fatality of the pandemic, which has claimed the lives of 300 other Israelis since the first outbreak in March.

Asulin was first diagnosed with the virus two months ago and initially had mild symptoms. His condition deteriorated and he then developed a heart condition that has been reported in a small number of cases of children who also caught the virus.

Eventually, doctors decided Asulin should be sedated and put on ventilation. During his time in the hospital, he was resuscitated four times, according to the Kikar HaShabat website that caters to the ultra-Orthodox community.

Doctors around the world treating COVID-19 patients have in the past warned of a rare inflammatory condition that can seriously harm children with the disease. It was not clear from the initial reports if that was the ailment that Asulin developed.

His family said that Asulin had recently tested negative for the virus, but was still considered a COVID-19 patient, and was being treated in a ward for virus infections.

Asulin is survived by his parents and three brothers. He was to be buried in Kfar Saba later Sunday.

Oshri Asulin during service in the IDF (Facebook)
Oshri Asulin during service in the IDF (Facebook)

Kfar Saba Mayor Rafi Sa’ar said that, on behalf of all the city’s residents, he was sending “a warm hug and my sincere condolences to all of his family.”

A former IDF soldier, Asulin later became ultra-Orthodox and affiliated with a branch of the Brastlav Hasidic sect.

He was not known to have any preexisting health conditions.

The previously reported youngest COVID-19 fatality in the country was a 29-year-old woman who suffered from an unspecified terminal illness.

On Sunday, the Health Ministry said that there were 83 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the lowest rate in over a week, after top officials warned of a second wave of infection. The figures marked the first time since June 6 that the number of new daily cases dropped below 100.

Of the 3,380 active cases, there are 33 patients in serious condition, with 24 of them on ventilators, the ministry said. So far of the 19,055 people who have been diagnosed in the country with the coronavirus, 15,375 people have recovered.

As reported by The Times of Israel