An Israeli hospital on Tuesday confirmed the first known death in the countryof a patient with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, but said he had suffered from a number of serious pre-existing conditions. The Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba said the man, in his sixties, died on Monday, two weeks after he was admitted to the coronavirus ward. A hospital statement said the patient suffered from a variety of serious illnesses. "His morbidity stemmed mainly from pre-existing sicknesses and not from respiratory infection arising from the coronavirus,” it said.

An Israeli hospital on Tuesday confirmed the first known death in the countryof a patient with the Omicron variant of COVID-19, but said he had suffered from a number of serious pre-existing conditions. The Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba said the man, in his sixties, died on Monday, two weeks after he was admitted to the coronavirus ward. A hospital statement said the patient suffered from a variety of serious illnesses. "His morbidity stemmed mainly from pre-existing sicknesses and not from respiratory infection arising from the coronavirus,” it said.