Some 430 new virus carriers were identified on Saturday with 1.47% of the 33,000 tests processed returning a positive result.
(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
The possibility of another lockdown still exists, but the government is not considering it as of now and the goal is to avoid it, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said Sunday, as Israel registered some 430 new cases on the previous day – the highest on a Saturday since March – and an increase in the number of serious patients, which stood at 63.
“Of course it is possible that there will be another lockdown, but we are not discussing it now,” Horowitz said in an interview to Army Radio. “Everyone can understand that if there is a huge outbreak here, including in serious morbidity, we will get there. We are taking measures so that we are not going to need it.”
Some 430 new virus carriers were identified on Saturday with 1.47% of the 33,000 tests processed returning a positive result. The previous day the cases were 1,120 out of 76,000 tests.
At the beginning of June, Israel was registering some 10-20 new cases a day. The new outbreak apparently started in some schools and quickly spread.
While the increase in serious morbidity – which is considered the most important parameter to consider – has remained limited, the number of patients in serious condition is nonetheless on the rise. Some 63 patients were in serious conditions on Sunday morning. Four weeks ago they were 19.
On Saturday, a group of experts from Hebrew University released a document warning that the figure will hit 100 by the first half of August.
At the peak on the pandemic in January, there were some 1,200 patients in serious condition, a number that placed unprecedented strain on the country’s health system. Months before, experts were suggesting that Israeli hospitals could handle up to 700-800 serious patients without compromising the quality of the care.
On Friday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with relevant ministers and health officials to discuss the current outbreak.
Bennett said that the Pfizer is less effective against the Delta variant, which currently represents the vast majority of cases in Israel.
“We do not know exactly to what degree the vaccine helps, but it is significantly less,” he said.
Starting from Wednesday, access to indoor weddings and parties with over 100 participants, will be reserved only to individuals who are vaccinated, recovered or have a negative corona test, or holders of what the government has dubbed “Happy Badge.”
In the upcoming days, the authorities are expected to discuss bringing back a similar requirement for all large indoor gatherings.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post