Israel is at the outset of a fifth coronavirus wave, according to Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers.
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In a report submitted to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, and Director of Public Health Services at the Health Ministry Dr. Sharon Elroi Preiss Thursday, university researchers called on the government to act to slow Omicron's spread. By allowing more time to gather information on the recently identified virus variant, the researchers said the government would be better equipped to come up with an appropriate plan of action.
According to the report's findings, the current increase in infections is tangible, and for the first time, the virus is spreading across all sectors and age groups. Nevertheless, the researchers conceded they did not know the root of the outbreak. They pointed to a number of possibilities, including a decrease in immunity levels, an increase in infections among families with young children, and increased infections at schools.
In their report, the researchers recommended the government act to bring down the reproduction rate so that, should there be a real outbreak of the Omicron variant, hospitals would not be overwhelmed.
They further called for increased enforcement of Green Pass guidelines and masking.
On the vaccine front, the researchers called for increased inoculation and for a third dose of the vaccine to be administered five months after the second dose.
In addition, they called for local outbreaks to be investigated by the IDF's "Alon" Epidemiological Investigations Task Forces.
Israel decided on Thursday night to extend its tough travel restrictions including its entry ban on all foreign nationals for a further ten days in a bid to stop further cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus entering the country.
In a statement issued by Bennett and Horowitz, the restrictions on passengers arriving at Ben-Gurion International Airport will run until at least Dec. 22.
Under the current requirements, all Israelis returning from abroad must self-quarantine until they receive confirmation of a negative coronavirus PCR test result, while those arriving from high-risk countries are required to isolate at a state-run quarantine hotel until they receive a negative PCR test result.
The statement also said additional restrictions and incentives for vaccination may be imposed in the coming days.
Israel has identified at least 21 cases of the highly mutated Omicron coronavirus variant first detected in southern Africa. Israel, a country of 9.3 million people, has reported 8,210 deaths from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. Most of its population – over 6.3 million people – has received at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and more than 4 million Israelis have received a booster.
The statement came after Health Ministry officials presented the two with up-to-date information on the variant. In Africa, infections were up fourfold over the last week. Although it remains unclear whether Omicron results in severe illness, there have been reports coming out of South Africa that young people infected with the virus are increasingly requiring hospitalization.
In Israel, infections have been limited thus far, with around 100 people currently believed to have been infected with the variant.
According to Health Ministry data, 589 of the 99,841 people who tested for COVID were found to have the disease Thursday.
There are 5,942 active cases of the virus. There are 93 people in serious condition, 55 of whom are on ventilators.
Although 1,334,808 Israelis have recovered from the virus since the outbreak of the pandemic, 8,210 have died.
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