Nearly 40% of Israel's active coronavirus patients are below the age of 12, the Health Ministry reported on Wednesday.
According to the ministry's data, out of 6,505 Israelis currently ill with the disease, 2,574 are children.
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A child receives her coronavirus vaccine at a Clalit HMO clinic in Jerusalem
(Photo: EPA)
The ministry also said that 603 new coronavirus cases were diagnosed on Tuesday. After 82,309 COVID tests were conducted, the infection rate now stands at 0.74%, similarly to the figure reported the previous day.
Out of 174 Israelis hospitalized for coronavirus, 124 are in serious condition, with 81 connected to ventilators. Since the start of the pandemic, 8,178 Israelis have succumbed to the disease.
Against the backdrop of resurging COVID-19 morbidity and the launch of Israel's vaccine drive for children aged 5–11, the coronavirus cabinet convened on Tuesday evening for the first time in almost two months and ruled to leave existing curbs on public gatherings in place for two more weeks.
At the opening of the meeting, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asked his ministers to support the burgeoning vaccine push for children and refrain from making statements that could hamper the country's inoculation efforts.
"It is very important that we support this move. There's no pressure right now to start issuing incentives or implementing the Green Pass," the premier said, referring to a document that grants access to public venues for those who have either been fully inoculated against COVID-19 or have recently recovered from it. "We're only focusing on informing the public with maximum transparency right now."
Bennett also called on parents to test their children for coronavirus before they return to school from the Hanukkah break in early December.