As the Omicron COVID wave continues to engulf Israel, with 20% or more of tests processed each day coming back positive, the healthcare panel of experts advising the government published updated recommendations Sunday evening.
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The panel warned that in the next few weeks, overcrowding in hospitals and medical centers could affect the quality of care provided. The panel predicted that the crowding would only worsen because community healthcare would reach capacity, forcing more people to be hospitalized.
"The peak of serious cases and also infections is still to come, and there is real potential or major overcrowding [in hospitals] and detriment to the ability to provide care or the quality of care …. In addition, hospital facilities are facing some difficult, complicated weeks ahead, despite the relatively low number of patients in critical condition compared to the previous waves," the panel said.
"The main concern this time is not for patients in the ICU on ventilators, but patients in the internal medicine and geriatric wards, and among the non-hospitalized elderly, due to a drop in the quality of treatment and overcrowding," they said.
In addition, the panel recommended not renewing the Green Pass vaccination certificate requirements.
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