Economy 24 August 2021, 11:54am

Israel COVID-19 numbers near record levels

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Authorities in Israel confirmed 9,831 new COVID-19 cases out of more than 150,000 tests applied on Monday, the highest since January and close to the daily peak of 10,118 during the third wave. This means the pandemic is still raging in the country despite relatively high vaccination coverage and tight measures, but at least the reproduction rate of the virus is now beginning to drop to the crucial level of 1.

There are 72,572 active coronavirus cases in Israel, the local health ministry said on Tuesday. There are 1,124 patients in hospital, including 678 severe cases, and 123 people require ventilation.

The total number of confirmed infections since the beginning of the pandemic is 1,005,511 in a country of 9.3 million.

The rise in the number of severe cases is slowing, but pandemic figures are still increasing,

Professor Nachman As, director at the health ministry, said Tuesday morning.

Since the end of December, Israel has vaccinated 5,911,191 people above 12 with at least one dose of the Pfizer/BionTech vaccine, 63.57% of the population, but this has proved insufficient to contain the new outbreak caused by the highly infectious Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The country has launched a new vaccination drive early in August, offering booster shots first to people above 60, then above 50, and currently above 40. More than 1.5 million people, or 17% of the population, have taken the third shot.

The health ministry had dispatched mobile vaccination stations to the outlying areas of the country, where vaccination coverage is lower.

In contrast with the alarming figures, there is also some optimism as the reproduction rate of the virus (R0) has been decreasing throughout August, from 1.38 at the beginning of the month (which means 100 virus carriers infect 138 people) to 1.15 by 13 August. However, as the number is still above 1, it indicates the further spread of the virus.

Israel now has 78 “red” communities (high infection rate), 94 “orange” ones (medium) and 65 “yellow” (low) towns and villages, while 43 communities have preserved their “green” status, indicating very low to zero infection.

The COVID-19 pandemic claimed 6,864 lives in Israel since last February, with Monday’s fatality figure of 12 raising the August total to 386. In June, before the fourth wave began, there were only 8 deaths related to complications from coronavirus infection.

Cover photo: Getty Images