Despite initial signs the spread of coronavirus in Israel may be slowing down, the country's top pandemic response official Prof. Salman Zarka warned on Monday that morbidity could still bounce back as COVID-19-related hospitalizations remain high.
"We're still witnessing very high morbidity, the kind of which we haven't seen before and is, unfortunately, yet to end. Over the weekend, we saw a drop in daily cases, hoping the peak was behind us," Zarka told a press briefing.
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Nurses tend to patients Wolfson Medical Center's coronavirus ward
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
"Yesterday, unfortunately, cases ticked up again and this indicates that we are in an unstable period. I really hope there will be a real decline in the number of cases first, but it should be noted that a decline does not immediately reduce the chance of us catching the virus. ERs are full and [new coronavirus] wards keep opening."
The coronavirus czar said that the Delta variant was no longer playing a leading role in the country's outbreak and was largely supplanted by the more contagious Omicron variant, or BA.1. Also, 350 cases of the BA.2 Omicron offshoot — which is believed to be even more transmissible — were detected in Israel, raising concerns among health officials.
According to Zarka, close to 650,000 Israelis have received their fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, without any novel adverse reactions reported.
Israel's coronavirus R-number — which gauges how many new coronavirus infections spurt on average from any single case — dropped to 0.94, suggesting that the pandemic was on a slight decline.
However, daily cases remained astronomical with the Health Ministry reporting Monday that 74,312 new infections have been detected over the past 24 hours, compared to over 85,000 over the same time period last week.
Since the beginning of January, 1,471,954 Israelis have tested positive for the virus, more than doubling the country's total caseload since the onset of the pandemic.
As of Monday morning, Israeli hospitals were treating 1,099 COVID-19 patients in serious condition, nearing the nation's highest such figure, which was recorded in January of last year.
Israel's coronavirus death toll has reached 8,724, with 19 Israelis succumbing to the pathogen on Sunday alone.