The coronavirus continues to spread in Israel with the infection rate at 19.08%, according to Health Ministry data published Thursday morning. Of the 71,291 Israelis tested for COVID in the past 24 hours, 13,603 tested positive.
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Numbers increased across the board. There are 66,821 active cases in the country with 786 patients hospitalized. Of those, 301 are in series condition. Currently, 16,513 Israelis are in quarantine. The reproduction rate stands at 1.42, up by 0.19 from the day before.
Thus far, 744,402 Israelis have been vaccinated with four vaccine doses, 4,472,407 with three, 6,126,746 with two, and 6,701,764 have received one shot.
Israel has reported 3,818,065 cases, including 10,455 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020.
The IDF Military Intelligence Directorate has attributed the increase in morbidity to the spread of the BA.2 variant, also known as "stealth Omicron," in the country and globally; the decline in the number of antibodies in individuals who have recovered from COVID some time ago; and a general decrease in the public's meticulousness with health guidelines, such as mask-wearing and social distancing.
Against the backdrop of the rise in infection rate, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is scheduled to meet with health officials and heads of Israel's health funds at 11 a.m. on Thursday. The officials are expected to discuss a third and fourth vaccination campaign for Israelis at-risk who have not gotten these inoculations yet; as well as extend the removal of the indoor-mask waring mandate, scheduled for April 1. No significant restrictions are expected to be imposed on the public at this time.
The Health Ministry said earlier in the week it was considering adding several restrictions on public life, including obligatory mask-wearing in outdoor areas and mandatory quarantine for individuals who come into contact with COVID patients. However, these recommendations will not be discussed at Thursday's meeting.
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