A rapid increase in coronavirus cases that have seen record workloads every day for the past week continued on Tuesday with 43,815 new confirmed patients, the highest number since the pandemic began in early 2020.
Health ministry figures released on Wednesday showed that out of 360,038 viral tests performed, 12.09% came back positive, the highest value since September 29, 2020, when it was 15.29%.
The number of critically ill patients was 254, one less than the day before. Of these, 84 are considered critical and 63 are on ventilators.
With the death of a patient the day before, the toll since the start of the pandemic has reached 8,274.
The Omicron virus variant has crossed Israel over the past week, leaving the country with 222,877 active patients, of which 198,276 have been diagnosed in the past seven days – a rate three times the rate the previous week. The rampage has left 156,393 Israelis in quarantine due to infection or exposure to an infected person, ministry figures show.
The Israel Defense Forces have faced their own major epidemic in recent days, with the number of cases rising almost sevenfold over the past week to 9,860 on Wednesday. Stricter protective measures have been instituted at the bases as well as a ban for most civilians from entering IDF facilities, the military said.
Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton reiterated on Wednesday that she did not want to shut down the education system, saying there was “global expert support” for keeping schools open.
Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton attends a New Hope faction meeting in the Knesset on December 13, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
“More and more people are realizing that the damage to children caused by the closures is enormous and these days we are seeing the severe consequences of the closures on children,” she said in a meeting on Wednesday. the subject, according to unrelated Hebrew media.
“Talking about shutting down the education system is damaging to children and parents. It won’t happen, ”she promised.
A Tuesday night meeting of the coronavirus cabinet, a select panel of ministers who shape virus policy, ended without any major decisions.
Public broadcaster Kan reported on Wednesday that ministers at the meeting asked why the quarantine period was not reduced to five days, as it is in the United States. Israel shortened the quarantine from ten to seven days on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has reportedly told ministers that so far the number of active patients has not stopped the country but the situation should be reassessed.
“If we see in three weeks that a new decision needs to be made as we balance disease and critical systems shutdown, we will,” Kan said.
The virus has also hit lawmakers, with Religious Zionism Party MK Ofir Sofer announcing on Wednesday that he was infected.
MK Ofir Sofer (right) attends a committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on December 13, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
With Sofer, 11 lawmakers out of 120 deputies now have the coronavirus. On Monday, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Public Safety Minister Omer Barlev both announced that they had tested positive.
The government has made mass vaccination a central strategy to deal with the wave of infections, the fifth the country has seen during the pandemic.
Of Israel’s 9.5 million people, 6,649,940 received at least one dose of the vaccine, of which 5,988,432 received both and 4,358,960 the third booster. In addition, 424,130 received a fourth injection of the vaccine, recently made available to people over 60 or at risk, according to figures from the Ministry of Health.
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