The fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic is hitting across the globe, but the impact it has varies from country to country. A new study conducted by Hebrew University found that Israel has certain characteristics that give it a better chance of coping with the fourth wave better than other countries.
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The study, by Prof. Uzi Rebhun of the A. Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at Hebrew University, was published in Migration Letters, an international leading scholarly journal, under the title "Inter-country variations in COVID-19 incidence from a social science perspective."
Rebhun focused on focus on the thirty-six OECD member states and examined "country-level characteristics of the timing of the coronavirus outbreak and its morbidity and case-fatality rates."
He "harvested data" from daily World Health Organization reports and official publications of major world organizations and then "clustered the latter information under three rubrics – socio-demographic, risk behaviors, and economic and public health."
Rebhun found that "country economic status and healthcare services" were "significant in moderating the health outcomes of coronavirus infection."
Nevertheless, he found, the most important determinant for restraining contagion and mortality is governmental safety measures – quarantines, lockdowns, tracing, testing, transparency of information, restrictions on tourism, quality of health services, and prior experience with national emergencies – which can reduce the number of infected people and deaths by about 50%.
Based on this determinant, which consists of 130 parameters addressed in the study, following the initial 100 days of the pandemic, Israel was ranked first among OECD countries and its conduct at the time made it a role model for many other countries.
The study also found that initial outbreaks occurred earlier in countries with larger immigrant populations. The explanation for this is that oftentimes immigrants live in close and crowded ethnic enclaves, don't understand the native language well enough to follow safety guidelines, while illegal immigrants tend to avoid getting tested and consequently are likelier to spread the virus to family members and friends.
However, the study also found that the more religious a population, the later the waves of the pandemic hit. Religiosity was also found to reduce mortality rates as patients in these places are more likely to receive extra help from their communities, emotional support and hope of recovery beyond objective medical odds.
"Until the medical research completely understands the structure of the coronavirus and develops a vaccine and medicine for all the mutations, it is imperative to implement and improve epidemiological approaches," wrote Rebhun.
"Israel has numerous structural advantages over other countries," he determined, including the large percentage of the population that is vaccinated, restoring the "green pass" system, restricting travel to and from abroad, and administering a third vaccine dose to the elderly.
"Cautious future measures could ensure success in contending with the new and fourth wave of the pandemic," Rebhun concluded.
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