The Health Ministry on Monday recorded the highest number of daily coronavirus infections since March. Of the 72,896 Israelis that were screened for the virus over the past 24 hours, 501 (0.7%) tested positive for the virus, setting the current infection rate at 1.43.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Israel has reported 834,281 COVID cases, including 6,429 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020. There are currently 2,901 active cases, with 73 patients hospitalized and 33 people in critical condition.
Nevertheless, mortality levels remain low, with no deaths recorded since June 23, which health officials attributed to Israel's successful national vaccination campaign. However, more than a million Israeli adults and teenagers have yet to be immunized.
The Military Intelligence Directorate published a report on the state of the pandemic in Israel, according to which if 500,000-750,000 Israelis were immunized without dealy it would dramatically decrease morbidity and mortality nationwide, and help the country curb the spread of the aggressive Delta variant.
The task force also warned that unless the spread of the highly contagious strain is curbed, it could lead to hundreds of deaths.
The Delta variant is more dangerous than any other strain detected in the past, the report said. Preliminary research abroad showed that the vaccine is effective against the new strain. However, researchers in Israel said it reduces the inoculation's effectiveness by 65%, and individuals who received only one dose are almost unprotected.
"The more people get immunized, the fewer people will get infected or develop a serious illness," researchers said. "Getting vaccinated is the best way to maintain the routine in education, economy, employment and tourism. Israel is close to achieving [herd] immunity, and stepping up the vaccination efforts will lead to fewer infections and help regain balance."
The government has reintroduced several restrictions to curb the spread of the Delta variant. Last week Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli instructed Ben-Gurion International Airport, which has been struggling for weeks to tackle the crowdedness and the lines, to separate arrivals from countries with a high rate of coronavirus morbidity, so-called "black" and "red" countries, into a separate terminal.
However, according to recent reports, due to a lack of proper enforcement, arrivals from countries flaged as high-risk destinations can easily leave Terminal 1 and come into contact with other travelers at the airport.
On Monday, returnees from Russia, a country on the government's blacklist, were seen exiting the plane without masks or supervision. Some got into their cars or took public transportation, and others got on the bus to Terminal 3, where they came into contact with returnees from safe destinations.
One arrival told Israel Hayom that passengers were forced to wait for a long time to get a coronavirus test because only two health workers were available. This despite the fact that just recently, the airport opened a brand new inoculation site.
"More than a hundred people from the plane were there, everyone sitting and waiting for those tests," the returnee said. "How is that not dangerous? Why were only two people administering the tests? It was all a joke."
The Transportation ministry blamed the health officials, claiming the responsibility to overlook arrivals rested on them. In response, the Health Ministry pointed the finger back at transportation officials.
The Transportation Ministry said in a statement: "Returnees from dangerous countries land at Terminal 1 and not in [other parts of] Ben-Gurion airport. These travelers are required by regulations to self-isolate and are prohibited from using public transportation. Enforcing the regulation is the responsibility of the Israel Police."
In response to the claims that Israelis use a loophole to travel to forbidden countries by making a stopover in a safe country to avoid self-isolation upon return, the ministry said that the Population and Immigration Authority was investigating the matter.
The Health Ministry was unavailable for comment.
Meanwhile, the government signed a vaccine agreement with South Korea on Tuesday morning to "facilitate the effective utilization of the present and future vaccine inventories of both countries."
As per the agreement, Israel, whose vaccines are approaching their expiration date, will transfer approximately 700,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to South Korea to vaccinate its population by the end of July. In return, South Korea will return the same quantity of vaccines to Israel from a future order in September-October 2021.
This is the first agreement of its kind for the exchange of coronavirus vaccines that has been signed between Israel and another country. The government praised the move and noted, "the agreement will take effect upon the completion of all processes, including testing the vaccines after their arrival in South Korea."
"We are continuing to protect the health of the citizens of Israel," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said. "The vaccines are effective and save lives. This is a fact. We have made a win-win deal: South Korea will receive vaccines from our existing stocks, and we will receive vaccines from their future shipment. Thus we are plugging the holes, and we will ensure that the State of Israel has a proper stock of vaccines."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
