Medical teams in Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva say that they do not feel properly protected from the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter sent by Ichilov emergency room staff to the hospital’s administration, they wrote that they “are beginning to fear for our health.”

They said they were “at the forefront” of the fight to contain the outbreak in Israel, and “hope to get support from the system we belong to.”

Ichilov hospital has opened an emergency hotline for staff members to ask questions and clarify instructions, and says it is fully equipping its staff. The department that had contact with a coronavirus patient, the hospital said, has been disinfected.

Hospital staff have requested that Ichilov open a separate emergency room to isolate patients within the department who show symptoms of the virus, and that workers in that unit be supplied with maximum protection measures. They are also asking that any patient who comes to the emergency room with a cough be tested for the coronavirus, as well as any staff member who fears for their health.

On Wednesday, 16 members of Ichilov’s staff entered quarantine after being exposed to a coronavirus patient, and Beilinson medical staff were also quarantined after exposure.

Israel’s Health Ministry said three new cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed, bringing the total in the country to 100. According to the ministry’s statement, 92 of them are either hospitalized or set to be hospitalized, and three have so far recovered.