The Military Intelligence coronavirus taskforce said Thursday that the COVID-19 reproduction rate, or "R" coefficient, has again edged down, dropping to 0.68%, thus signaling a stable and encouraging trend in quelling the third resurgence of the pandemic in Israel.
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The Health Ministry has recorded 824,926 coronavirus cases since the global pandemic erupted last year, including 6,062 deaths. So far, 794,861 Israelis have recovered from the disease.
Israel: Further drop in R, now to 0.68, representing a 50% weekly decline in cases pic.twitter.com/PpqsMytqGy
— Eran Segal (@segal_eran) March 18, 2021
Ministry data showed that of the 24,003 active coronavirus cases, 579 Israeli were hospitalized in serious condition. Of those, 237 are said to be in critical condition and 196 are on ventilators.
Of the 78,854 Israelis screened Wednesday, 1,496 – or 2% – tested positive for the virus.
As of Wednesday, 5,158,059 Israelis had received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and 4,421,370 have been fully inoculated against COVID-19.
Israel: Updated cases, hospitalizations & deaths across age groups
In people 60 y/o and above, who were vaccinated first, since the peak in mid Jan.:
86% fewer cases
73% fewer critically ill
91% fewer deathsDeclines seen across all age groups
Economy now nearly fully open pic.twitter.com/tOLE9XsHde
— Eran Segal (@segal_eran) March 18, 2021
Professor Eran Segal of the Department of Computer Science And Applied Math at the Weizmann Institute of Science noted on his Twitter account that a reproduction rate of 0.68 effectively means that Israel is seeing a 50% decrease in the number of infections diagnosed weekly.
He further noted that in people 60 years old and over, who were vaccinated first, there have been 86% fewer infections, 73% fewer critically ill patients, and 91% fewer deaths.
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