The Omicron coronavirus wave continues to steadily decline in Israel. According to Health Ministry data published on Thursday morning, of the 111,273 Israelis screened for the virus in the past 24 hours, 21,152 (19.01%) tested positive.
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The reproduction rate also continued its downward trend — decreasing to 0.68. A value below one indicates that the virus is retreating. There are 173,685 active patients in the country and 1,996 patients hospitalized. Of those, 886 are in serious condition. Currently, 33,536 Israelis are in quarantine.
Thus far, 705,818 Israelis have been vaccinated with four doses, 4,458,073 with three, 6,115,569 with two, and 6,696,863 have received one shot.
Israel has reported 3,502,536 cases, including 9,710 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020.
Ministry data also showed that 24 Israeli children were diagnosed with the Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome (PIMS) after recovering from the coronavirus in the current infection wave, a number significantly lower than the 100-2000 cases predicted by experts. In fact, numbers showed that fewer children developed PIMS in the current morbidity wave compared to previous ones. Altogether from the start of the pandemic, 220 children were diagnosed with PIMS.
In view of the substantial drop in COVID cases, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with health experts on Thursday morning to discuss gradually lifting the remaining restrictions on public life by March 1.
Lawmakers decided not to extend the so-called "green pass" outline that requires Israelis wishing to enter event halls and shopping center to provide proof of vaccination.
"The [infection] wave has broken. Our strategy, of an open economy alongside actions to curb the coronavirus, has made Israel the number one country in terms of growth in developed countries, and led to a level of economic growth unseen in the last 21 years," Bennett said, stressing the importance of keeping the economy open and preventing the healthcare system from being overwhelmed, as well as preparing for a potential next morbidity wave.
In addition, the Health Ministry is developing a plan that includes removing limitations on gatherings and opening borders to unvaccinated Israelis and foreigners. The indoor mask mandate will remain in place, according to the proposal, however, even this matter is expected to be debated my lawmakers in the coming weeks. Screening tests on arrival in the country for travelers will also be kept in order to prevent new variants from entering the country.
Countries worldwide also reported a decrease in Omicron infection. According to the World Health Organization, the global caseload fell by 19% in the last week while the number of deaths remained stable.
The United Nations health agency said late Tuesday in its weekly report on the pandemic that just over 16 million new COVID-19 infections and about 75,000 deaths were reported over the world last week.
The Western Pacific was the only region to report a rise in new weekly cases, an increase of about 19%, Southeast Asia reported a decrease of about 37%, the biggest drop globally. The number of deaths rose by 38% in the Middle East and by about one-third in the Western Pacific.
The biggest number of new COVID-19 cases was seen in Russia. Infections there and elsewhere in Eastern Europe doubled in recent weeks, driven by a surge of Omicron.
WHO said that all other coronavirus variants, including Alpha, Beta and Delta, continue to decline globally as Omicron crowds them out. Among the more than 400,000 COVID-19 virus sequences uploaded to the world's biggest virus database in the last week, more than 98% were Omicron.
WHO said the BA.2 version of Omicron appears to be "steadily increasing" and its prevalence has risen in South Africa, Denmark, Britain, and other countries.
Health officials have noted, however, that Omicron causes milder disease than previous mutations and in countries with high vaccination rates, hospitalization and death rates have not increased substantially, even with the spread of Omicron.
WHO's Africa director, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said last week there was "light at the end of the tunnel" for the continent and that even despite low vaccination rates, Africa was transitioning from the acute pandemic phase of COVID-19.
That optimism contrasts sharply with warnings from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has said repeatedly the pandemic is not over and it would be premature for countries to think that the end is in sight.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
