Israel on Wednesday reported over 14,000 new daily COVID cases diagnosed a day earlier despite the continued decline in the virus' basic reproduction number.
The Health Ministry said that 14,074 Israelis tested positive for COVID on Tuesday, and after 78,288 tests had been conducted, the positivity rate now stands at nearly 18%.
The R number, meanwhile, continues to decrease and now stands at 1.15, indicating the virus is still spreading in the community, but at a slower rate than earlier this month. The number indicates how many people on average a singe virus carrier infects.
The number of patients in severe condition currently 272, of whom 105 are connected to ventilators, pointing to a moderate decline.
Since the pandemic broke out, it has claimed the lives of 10,485 people in Israel, of whom 16 died within the last seven days.
Israel currently has over 72,600 active COVID cases, most of whom suffer from mild symptoms. Amongst them, 6,189 are in Tel Aviv, 3,279 in Jerusalem, 2,846 in Haifa, and 2,454 in Be'er Sheva.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday authorized a second vaccine booster dose of the two most commonly used COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) for people aged 50 and older.
The move was approved in light of the emergence of the new, fast-spreading BA.2 variant - an offshoot of the Omicron strain of coronavirus. The FDA said the new booster - a fourth round of the vaccine shot - is intended to offer more protection against severe disease from COVID and hospitalization.
Pfizer announced that they are working on developing a specialized vaccine this March that will not only counter the new variants, but also offer long term protection from COVID.
Pfizer has also recommended that people aged 65 and up receive the second booster based on the data from Israel, which safely administered the vaccine to many elderly and the immunosuppressed.