Israel will record 5,000 deaths by the end of February, according to a new report by Hebrew University researchers on the spread of the coronavirus published Thursday.

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The number is 10 times the researchers, Hebrew University Professors Yinon Askenazy, Doron Gazit, and Nadav Katz from the university's physics department and Professors Ronit Calderon and Ran Nir-Paz, both from the university's School of Public Health and Community Medicine and Hadassah Medical Center, predicted in December.

As of Thursday, 3,892 have died of the virus, with an average of 50 people dying of COVID-19 daily in recent weeks.

Israel's infection rate stood at 7.7%, as 9,192 of the 123,111 people who tested for COVID-19 were found to be positive. There are 1,141 people in serious condition, 291 of whom are on ventilators. Israel currently has 79,084 active cases.

According to Health Ministry data, 1,992,806 Israelis received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by Thursday, with 169,707 having received the second dose of the vaccine.

Yet even with the success of Israel's vaccination campaign and the imposition of Israel's third tightened lockdown, hospitals are expected to see a sharp increase of another 180 seriously ill patients in the coming weeks.

According to Health Ministry models, extending the lockdown by another two weeks will save the lives of between 200 and 400 people and enable the government to meet its goal of bringing the infection rate down to below 1,000 new cases a day.

To contend with the situation, Hebrew University of Jerusalem experts recommend the vaccination campaign be ramped up and for the lockdown to remain in place until at least Jan. 21.

With morbidity on the rise in Israel's third wave of the coronavirus outbreak, the Health Ministry has authorized the use of an antibody therapy found to be effective at lowering the risk of serious illness in coronavirus patients.

The Health Ministry has already imported 400 doses of bamlanivimab, which is administered in a single dose through intravenous infusion. The ministry is set to receive another 600 doses.

Bamlanivimab is administered only under medical supervision in hospitals. The first dose was administered to a dialysis patient at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba.

Israel Hayom has learned that several hospitals, among them the Sheba, Sourasky, Emek, Kaplan, and Assuta Medical Centers.

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Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, 3,003 Israelis have died of the virus, the Health Ministry reported, Monday.

Of the 50,641 people who tested for the coronavirus, Sunday, 1,707 were found to be carrying the virus, for an positivity rate of 3.4%. There are currently 17,691 confirmed active cases in Israel, 353 of which are serious. Of those in serious condition, 100 are on ventilators.

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Israel received the first shipment of pharmaceutical firm Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine last week and also has ordered 6 million doses of Moderna's vaccine, in addition to developing its own, called BriLife. Israel plans to begin rolling out its vaccination program on Dec. 27.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein paid a visit on Sunday to the Maccabi healthcare provider coronavirus vaccination facility in Tel Aviv.

"The ability of the country's healthcare providers to carry out the mission shows us that we will apparently be able to bring forward optimally vaccinating the population of Israel, in my opinion, the best in the world," said Netanyahu, according to a statement from his office.

"Moreover, of course, we welcome the fact that the American regulatory agency, the Food and Drug Administration, has approved the Pfizer vaccine. We are beginning the end of the pandemic," he added.

But until that time, he stressed, "I ask that the rules be strictly followed. There is no reason that we should pay with casualties, with tragedies, and with severe cases beyond the necessary minimum. We see what is happening in the world, the huge tragedies in the US, Germany, Russia, and other parts of Europe. Israel can exit this better. I ask for your cooperation. What I can tell you today is that we are on the way to bringing forward the vaccinations."

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Edelstein said he had ordered the Health Ministry to examine the FDA's authorization of emergency use of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine and submit its recommendations for Israel's emergency use of the vaccine in the coming days.

He said that Israel could begin to vaccinate its citizens earlier than planned. "Maybe by next week we will be able to start vaccinating the medical teams," said the health minister.

Edelstein added that it was time to begin taking on the "fake news" surrounding the vaccines.

"I want to start fighting this even now. We have seen accounts to the effect that several items [needed for the vaccine] are lacking. These are mere rumors. Nothing is lacking. The four healthcare providers are exceptionally well prepared. In the coming days we will bring news to Israel that it will be among the first countries in the world that are vaccinating," he said.

According to an Israel Hayom poll, 37% of respondents said they would refuse vaccines, while 19% would neither confirm nor deny whether they plan to get vaccinated. Forty-four percent of respondents said they intended to get the vaccine.

JNS.org contributed to this report.

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A 66-year-old woman who had suffered from a variety of medical conditions died Wednesday evening after complications from the virus.

Earlier on Wednesday, a 69-year-old woman, a caregiver who had pre-existing medical conditions, died in a Jerusalem hospital. Several hours later, a hospital in Holon reported that one of its coronavirus patients died: a 74-year-old man who had had poor health even before he contracted the virus. He died while in an induced coma.

A 98-year-old woman with pre-existing medical conditions who was hospitalized at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba succumbed to COVID-19 overnight Tuesday.

Soroka reported Wednesday that 20 people are currently hospitalized in the medical center's dedicated unit for the treatment of corona patients, with six listed in serious condition, two in moderate condition, and the rest with light cases. The medical center added that an 18-year-old woman who had been hospitalized for two weeks with COVID-19 was released on Tuesday.

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As of Thursday evening the Health Ministry reported more than 6,000 confirmed cases in Israel – 95 of those are listed as in serious condition. Seventy-six of the serious cases, are in medically-induced comas and on ventilators. Another 129 patients are in moderate condition, with the vast majority – 5,602 – listed as light or minor cases.

Israel's hotel turned treatment facilities for light cases are currently treating 700 patients. The remaining 3,128 are at home.

A total of 241 corona patients have fully recovered.

The Bayit Balev rehabilitation center for geriatric patients in Bat Yam reported Wednesday that three cases of coronavirus had been diagnosed in its facility.

"There are two female patients. One appears to have been infected during tests outside Bayit Balev, along with her daughter, who is also positive for corona. In addition, an employee in the department kitchen is positive for coronavirus," a statement from Bayit Balev read. The two elderly patients were taken to the emergency room, and the employee is at home.

At the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, a 67-year-old patient who had been in an induced coma and on a ventilator for two weeks was taken off the ventilator on Tuesday night and is breathing on her own. Her condition has been upgraded to moderate. The patients contracted the virus while visiting Egypt with her partner.

The director of the corona ICU at Wolfson called the woman's case "encouraging."

"Of course, we are continuing to monitor the patient's condition closely, and hope that we will soon be able to report more improvement," he noted.

Israel Hayom has elected to take a closer look at the "pre-existing conditions" that have been reported for all the corona fatalities in the country thus far and discovered that while the term might imply that the victims were already critically ill, in at least some cases the "pre-existing conditions" were common medical conditions that in approximately one-third of the Israeli population over 40 have: diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

Israel Hayom identified the "pre-existing conditions" from which 18 of the 21 victims suffered and discovered that eight were diabetics; eight had high blood pressure; and seven suffered from heart and vascular disease. Five of the patients were in varying states of dementia or had suffered strokes or a loss of cognitive functioning. Another four had respiratory illnesses. One patient who succumbed to coronavirus already had liver disease, an autoimmune condition, and cancer. 

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