Slightly more than 1,000 (1,023) of the 51,859 COVID tests processed on Saturday turned out positive, the Health Ministry reported Sunday morning. This equates to a positive rate of 1.99%. The reproduction rate of the virus stood at 0.71.
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As of Sunday, there were 28,159 active or symptomatic COVID cases in Israel, including 674 patients who were hospitalized. The majority of the hospitalized patients – 463 – were listed in serious condition, and 186 were on ventilators.
According to the Health Ministry, 352 of the COVID patients in serious condition had not been vaccinated against the virus at all, and 29 had received the original two doses of the vaccine as well as a COVID booster shot.
Seven people succumbed to the virus on Saturday, pushing Israel's total death COVID death toll since the pandemic reached Israel in early 2020 to 7,904.
Also on Saturday, an unvaccinated 16-year-old suffering from relatively rare post-coronavirus complication died on Saturday in a children's ICU unit, Schneider Children's Medical Center announced.
The teen, who had no pre-existing medical conditions, was transferred to the unit two weeks ago and was placed on life support.
After contracting COVID-19, he developed the so-called pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS), a condition causing inflammation of different organs, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin or eyes.
The teen is believed to be Israel's first PIMS fatality.
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On Thursday, a six-month-old toddler was hospitalized at the Sheba Medical Center in serious condition after testing positive for the coronavirus and developing PIMS.
"There are quite a few children in Israel with PIMS, including quite a few are on ventilators. This is a serious condition. I think we are seeing a rise in PIMS in recent weeks," Dr. Ofer Schiller of the Schneider Children's Medical Center told Ynet.
A total of 86,798 public school students were in quarantine, with 14,631 symptomatic. There were 1,849 staff members in quarantine, 716 of whom had tested positive for the virus.
The number of Israelis who have received at least one dose of the vaccine stood at 6,178,847 as of Sunday morning, with 5,679,655 having received two doses. Over 3.7 million Israelis have received booster shots in addition to the first two vaccines doses.
i24NEWS contributed to this report"
