Nearly 5,000 Israelis have been killed by the novel coronavirus since the start of the global pandemic more than a year ago.
The Health Ministry confirmed Thursday evening that Israel’s death toll from the virus now stands at 4,947.
At least 7,385 new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed out of the 85,925 tests that were conducted on Wednesday, resulting in an 8.9 percent positivity rate.
According to the latest data, 76,896 Israelis are currently battling the virus in the Jewish State. Of those, 1,103 patients are listed in very serious to critical condition and of those, 315 are being maintained on ventilators to keep them alive.
“The mutation is running amok around the world,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in opening remarks at the government cabinet meeting held Thursday evening to discuss a possible extension of the current, third lockdown in the country.
“The British mutation is also running amok in Israel. We can see it in the simple fact that around 80 percent of morbidity in Israel today is from the British mutation. This changes the situation,” he said. “Morbidity in Israel is very high. Unfortunately, there is only a moderate decline in severe cases; therefore, the plight and the overcrowding in the hospitals is also very high.”
Three proposals were to be presented at the meeting for consideration as options for easing the restrictions, which are set to expire at 7 pm Friday night, according to Hebrew-language media.
- Fully reopen the economy
- Gradually reopen the economy but be ready to shut back down if the morbidity rate reaches a predetermined threshold
- Extend and tighten the current lockdown restrictions
Regardless of which proposal is chosen, that which is selected will be re-evaluated by the ministers every two weeks to determine the efficacy of the strategy.
“We are making progress with the vaccines,” Netanyahu said. “As was written in today’s Financial Times, we are the only country that is dealing with the British mutation with a certain success due to the millions of vaccines that we have here. Today we started vaccinating Israeli citizens over 16 but what is most important is that all Israeli men and women over 50 be vaccinated.
“It must be understood, 97 percent of mortality is in the 50+ age group, as is 92 percent of severe morbidity. Everybody – go be vaccinated; but first, people over 50 – go be vaccinated. Among those over 60, there has been a 26 percent decline in the hospitalization of severe cases and an approximately 45 percent decline in verified cases in the past 16 days. This is a direct result of the vaccinations.
“Go be vaccinated. The vaccines work. If you go to be vaccinated – we will be able to gradually exit from the coronavirus and cautiously and responsibly open our economy.”