Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres has dispatched an unusual letter to American airline companies, calling for the resumption of flights to Israel.

"I am deeply concerned about the halt in air travel between the United States and Israel," Torres began. "The suspension has been so prolonged and so pervasive that El Al, an Israeli airline, has become the sole carrier offering direct flights from America to Israel. The lack of competition has made air travel to Israel less available and less affordable, putting customers at the mercy of a de facto monopoly that can easily gouge prices with impunity."

Torres then hinted at a possible boycott by some carriers: "Airlines should be prohibited from effectively boycotting or otherwise discriminating against the world's only Jewish State. It is one thing to temporarily suspend air travel to Israel on security grounds as defined by the FAA, but to unilaterally suspend air travel indefinitely until mid-2025, as American Airlines has done, has the practical effect of a boycott," he wrote.

"Given the arbitrary length of the suspension, one could be forgiven for thinking that the BDS movement had taken over the American aviation industry without anyone noticing, much less crying foul. By what logic and in what universe is it safe for El Al to travel to Israel but too dangerous for American Airlines, Delta, and United to do so?"

He further pointed out that "UAE airlines like Etihad, FlyDubai, and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi continue to fly to Israel without incident."

The post Are US airlines boycotting Israel? Lawmaker lashes out appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Delta Air Lines is reviewing the use of traditional phrases like "ladies and gentlemen" in airport announcements. This move is part of an effort to promote the use of gender-neutral language.

Kira Lynn Johnson, Delta's Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Impact, is spearheading significant changes in the company's language and procedures. In December 2020, the company even published an inclusive language guide for its employees.

"So we're beginning to take a hard look at things like our gatehouse announcements. You know, we welcome 'ladies and gentlemen.' And we've asked ourselves, 'Is that as gender inclusive as we want to be?' Johnson said.

Johnson also emphasized the company's commitment to being "anti-racist," adopting a proactive approach to promoting diversity and equity. Delta is applying these principles in its recruitment and promotion processes and systematically measures representation gaps at all levels of the company.

Johnson acknowledges that some employees still feel uncomfortable with these changes. However, the company claims it remains committed to creating an inclusive work environment that reflects the diversity of its customers worldwide.

The post Delta considers dropping 'Ladies and gentlemen' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Microsoft and CrowdStrike denied responsibility for Delta Air Line's July comprehensive system outage, claiming Delta refused their offers of assistance. Microsoft stated Delta's affected systems did not use its products, suggesting a lack of IT modernization compared to competitors.

Delta Air Lines experienced a massive operational meltdown in July associated with a faulty software update by CrowdStrike, distributed to Microsoft clients, that caused global IT outages in July.

While other major U.S. airlines resumed operations a day after the incident, Delta continued to experience prolonged disruptions, affecting hundreds of thousands of customers and prompting a U.S. Department of Transportation investigation.

Over 5,000 Delta flights were canceled and more delayed, costing Delta around $500 million.

Microsoft criticized Delta for overstating its role in the tech outage, accusing the airline of deflecting blame and spreading false information to avoid accountability. Microsoft said it offered to help Delta for free after the outage, but its assistance was declined multiple times.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian accused Microsoft and CrowdStrike of failing to comply with contractual requirements and negligent behavior in connection with the faulty update, stating Delta has no choice but to seek damages.

According to Microsoft, Delta's delayed recovery was due to an internal system failure impacting flight and crew scheduling.

Delta's CEO claimed the incident cost the airline around $500 million in losses and extra costs, while CrowdStrike claims less than $10 million in liability.

The company has hired litigator David Boies to pursue legal action against CrowdStrike.

Delta claims to have invested billions in IT since 2016 and spends billions yearly on IT, emphasizing commitment to safety and reliability.

Microsoft and CrowdStrike state they offered assistance to Delta during the outage, but Delta declined, with Microsoft executives allegedly reaching out from July 19 to 24. Delta, however, dismisses these claims as only "free consulting advice."

Microsoft and CrowdStrike want Delta to preserve documents related to the outage.

Sources: One Mile at a Time, CNBC, Skift, ABC News, NY Post, SCMP, The Verge, Benzinga, iTechpost, Headtopics, Daily Mail, New York Times

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

The post Microsoft, CrowdStrike say Delta's July operational meltdown largely own company's fault appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Two American airlines, United and Delta, have announced the cancellation of flights to Israel for the coming days. They are the only airlines, apart from El Al, that operate direct flights to the United States. At this time, it is unclear when these airlines will resume operations in Israel. Travelers are advised to check with their respective airlines for updates on the continuation of flights.

Additionally, other airlines are currently assessing the possibility of canceling their flights to Israel.

German airline Lufthansa has announced that some of its flights will make stops in Cyprus to change crews, a known procedure also adopted by British Airways and the Dutch airline KLM to avoid crew layovers in Israel during the the Gaza war.

All flights from the Lufthansa Group to Israel are continuing as usual. However, Austrian Airlines has announced adjustments to its schedule, and passengers are advised to check with the airline if they are scheduled to fly in the coming days. Swiss, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings continue to operate without changes.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has raised the travel advisory level for its citizens regarding Lebanon. In its statement, the American Embassy in Lebanon urged American citizens not to travel to the country and, if already there, to prepare for possible escalation and find shelter. Specifically, regarding the southern region, the directive was even more severe and explicit: Leave the area.

Earlier this week, the embassy called on American citizens to register with the embassy in anticipation of a possible evacuation. The embassy urged its citizens to leave the country while commercial flights are still available.

The post United, Delta cancelling flights to Israel appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The Health Ministry reported Sunday morning 17,521 new COVID-19 diagnoses over the past 24 hours following some 151,000 tests, marking a positive test rate of 11.71%.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

The number of COVID-19 patients listed as seriously ill rose to 206, according to the ministry.

While the daily tally of 17,521 new cases Saturday was a slight dip from Friday's record-setting 18,831 new cases, the test positivity rate reached levels not seen in over a year.

Sunday's tally of serious cases of COVID was nearly double the 112 patients in serious condition recorded a week earlier. The number of hospitalizations rose from 338 a week ago to 524. The dramatic hike in morbidity is driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

With the new cases, there were 115,010 active patients in the country.

The death toll remained at 8,259, with no change since Friday.

The total number of COVID-19 cases registered worldwide since the start of the pandemic topped 300 million on Friday, while a researcher in Cyprus reported the discovery of a coronavirus strain that combines the Delta and Omicron variants.

Amid the gigantic upsurge in infections, the government convened Sunday morning to discuss several issues, including COVID public safety policies.

"The Omicron wave is here and as we all can sense, is spreading with all its might," said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who warned last week that Israel could reach 50,000 daily cases at the height of the wave.

The prime minister addressed Israel's inventory of rapid antigen tests amid the change in testing protocols announced last week, vowing to provide free antigen tests for Israeli schoolchildren.

Vaccinated individuals can also conduct rapid antigen tests at home, but there have been severe shortages in test kits in recent days as Israelis raided shops for them.

According to Bennett, 1.5 million testing kits were also being provided to nursing homes.

"We are making sure to provide the most hermetic blanket of protection and defense possible for the nursing homes, the elderly, in the aim of protecting the most vulnerable who can develop severe symptoms and require hospitalization," he said. "This is parallel to the very successful operation to provide booster shots to [people 60 and up] – nearly one-quarter of a million people have been vaccinated [with a fourth vaccination dose]. This is a wonderful response that will spare a lot of severe illness and suffering."

Last week Israel began distributing extra fourth boosters to its elderly population and health workers, the first country in the world to do so. As of Saturday, 254,000 people had gotten the second booster.

Discussing antigen tests in schools, Bennett said, "We are attentive to the public's distress and are living it first-hand. I, too, have four children to test at home. I can tell you that as of now the students will receive free testing kits. Every child in Israel – in pre-school and elementary school, along with the teaching staff – will receive three testing kits in the coming days. We made sure in advance to transfer stocks to the schools precisely for such a situation, and now we are making use of these kits to relieve the burden on parents."

The government has urged the public to vaccinate and shots are available to all those aged five or above.

Of Israel's 9.5 million population, 6,621,321 have had at least one vaccine dose, Sunday's Health Ministry figures showed. Of those, 5,963,196 have also had a second shot and 4,322,783 a booster as well.

In Israel, 174 communities were designated as "red," or in other words with high morbidity rates, 35 were "orange" and 28 were "yellow." Last week the number of red communities was just 57.

The coronavirus cabinet is expected to convene on Tuesday evening at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem.

Earlier Sunday, Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash discussed the credibility of the rapid antigen tests, telling Army Radio: "I suspect we'll recommend also testing the mouth, and then the nose. People must make sure to follow the instructions for these tests, which will raise the sensitivity of these tests and their accuracy.

"All the talk about us 'giving up' is absolutely untrue. We need to suit ourselves to the level of morbidity, and any changes we make are to focus our efforts on [treating] the severely ill," he said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

Meanwhile, Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus, called the combined strain he discovered "Deltacron," due to its Omicron-like genetic signatures within the Delta genomes, Bloomberg reported.

So far, Kostrikis and his team have found 25 cases of the virus, according to the report. It's still too early to tell whether there are more cases of the strain or what impacts it could have.

"We will see in the future if this strain is more pathological or more contagious or if it will prevail" against the two dominant strains, Delta and Omicron, Kostrikis said in an interview with Sigma TV Friday. He believes Omicron will also overtake Deltacron, he added.

With Omicron heralding the pandemic's latest wave, many countries are reporting record numbers of infections.

Over 13.5 million virus cases were detected worldwide in the past week, a massive rise of 64% over the previous seven days, averaging almost two million new infections per day.

The post PM: Omicron spreading with all its might, Israel could reach 50,000 cases daily appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Professor Ran Balicer, chairman of the Health Ministry's pandemic response team, warned Saturday that the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant will see infection rates continue to break records.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Q: What is your assessment regarding the Omicron wave? How many confirmed cases will we reach at the apex and how long will this wave last?

"There are no predictive models as to what the apex will look like. There are too many unknowns at the moment to predict the number of infections at the high point, and the approximate date at which this will occur. There will be millions of confirmed cases, and therefore many people will be hospitalized in serious condition," he told Israel Hayom.

Q: What do we know thus far about Omicron and the severe morbidity it causes, and are the question marks starting to clear up?

"In recent weeks we've learned that Omicron behaves fundamentally differently than previous strains. The differences between it and the Delta variant are greater than the differences between Delta and Alpha and the other strains. It has various mechanisms for entering the cell and operates differently at the cellular level. Omicron mostly targets the upper respiratory system and less so the lungs, along with various other differences we can identify at the moment. All of these differences on the cellular level apparently help explain why it is less violent than the Delta variant. And at this stage, it's clear to us from the British data that the risk of severe hospitalization is at least three times lower compared to Delta. This is the good news, but because it is more contagious than Delta and is able to infect even those who have been sick before and the vaccinated, the number of infections will be higher and the number of accumulated hospitalizations could also be higher. Therefore the health system is preparing for severe scenarios."

Q: Regarding the Delta variant, it was said that one percent of those infected would require hospitalization. What will the number be with Omicron?

"It fluctuates from country to country and it's hard to compare, but based on standardized conversions of age and vaccination status, the odds of requiring hospitalization are three times less than with the Delta variant."

Q: Is Omicron more dangerous for children?

"We don't regard it as fact that Omicron is more dangerous for children, but it's important to clarify that we are still collecting data from across the globe and there is still uncertainty on this matter. In my opinion, it's prudent to be cautious and to make a significant effort to prevent infection among children in the schools via all the tools at our disposal, and I reiterate my call to those who haven't vaccinated their children – do it now. It's important to protect the children to prevent PIMS (Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome and long-COVID symptoms), whose rates are still unknown."

Q: Is herd immunity a possibility considering the large scope of morbidity?

"We still don't know what the infection rate will be but are familiar with the desire to attain herd immunity. What we're seeing right now is that people who have been infected in previous waves are also susceptible to re-infection. The aspiration at any stage should be to avoid infection for as long as daily conduct and vaccinations allow, and to remember that vaccination provides protection without the risks. It's not a certainty that those who have contracted Omicron will be protected against additional strains and infection at a later date."

Q: The government made a decision last week to deprioritize PCR testing in favor of at-home or quick tests. Won't this lead to chaos? Isn't this akin to "giving up" in the fight against the coronavirus?

"If we could have maintained the previous testing policy amid a reality of tens of thousands of infections per day, we would have done so. But because it's unfeasible, especially when the numbers will continue doubling, the new directives were inevitable. The system cannot provide a response within a reasonable timeframe with every additional doubling of daily infections. What should have happened, which is now indeed happening, is to prioritize [PCR] testing for populations that need it the most – the elderly and vulnerable who need urgent care after infection. Our ability to trace the spread of the disease will indeed suffer, but we will continue to monitor the situation based on infections among those 60 years old and up, accounting for the flu and fourth vaccination doses, and at the hospitals – where the directives haven't changed."

‏Q; At this stage, is there any way to stop infection by imposing restrictions such as the "green pass" or public gatherings ("purple pass")?

"Vaccinations, and particularly the booster, provide good protection against contracting the Delta strain, and excellent protection against severe illness due to Delta and Omicron. The green pass creates an environment in which far fewer Delta infections occur but doesn't provide enough protection against contracting Omicron. It's important to make it clear to adults and those who are at-risk that to avoid Omicron infection in the coming weeks, they should also avoid unnecessary gatherings that take place within green pass guidelines." ‏

Q: You said last week that the green pass has also lost some of its effectiveness. What is the recommendation now to vulnerable populations? How would you advise people to behave?

Despite the high contagiousness of Omicron, at-risk populations can avoid contracting the virus in the current wave. We must vaccinate those who haven't received a third dose (there are currently 400,000 people above the age of 40 who haven't received the third dose). Those eligible for a fourth dose can get it and replenish their antibodies to levels that existed after the third dose. The data from Great Britain indicates that those who have received a 'fresh' booster are almost 90% protected against severe illness.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

"The second thing is to make sure to wear a mask in every closed space and gathering. People should also avoid attending events in closed spaces, aside from necessary daily activities. The elderly population needs to continue as normal to socialize and meet people, but try to do so outdoors or in a space that is as ventilated as possible. On one hand, avoid large gatherings in closed spaces, but on the other hand, don't reach a point of social isolation and continue to meet with friends."

The post 'Millions of Israelis will be infected by Omicron,' expert warns as 5th COVID wave gains speed appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Despite the alarming rise in Omicron coronavirus cases in Israel and worldwide, it seems the morbidity remains under control in the country. The Health Ministry reported Monday morning that of the 95,320 Israelis it screened for the virus in the past 24 hours, 521 (0.60%) tested positive.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

There are more than 5,000 active cases, 21 of which are Omicron and officials warned that several dozens more could be expected as more tests are analyzed. As of Monday morning, 153 patients are hospitalized. Of those, 112 are in serious condition.

Israel has reported 1,346,243 coronavirus cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, including 8,204 deaths.

Thus far, 4,100,145 Israelis over the age of 16 have been fully vaccinated, 5,782,034 received two doses, and 6,371,876 got their first jabs.

Meanwhile, Israeli health officials are expected to discuss this week authorizing a fourth COVID vaccine booster shot for immunocompromised individuals, according to Channel 12 news. 

The Health Ministry's vaccination advisory committee and the team in charge of epidemics will only be considering the fourth dose for the vulnerable group that has not developed antibodies, not the general population. However, the third dose was also originally targeted to the immunocompromised but was authorized for the general population at a later point. 

The experts will also talk about vaccination guidelines for children with neurological disorders and inoculating kids who have recovered from COVID.

At-risk individuals in Britain are already eligible to receive the fourth booster shot. The country's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization said last week that people vulnerable to COVID can get jabbed a fourth time three months after receiving the third booster shot.

Britain has reported that the number of Omicron cases in the country doubled in less than three days. The figure is similar to that of South Africa, where the new mutation was first detected. However, what is especially alarming, is that contrary to the African country, most Brits are vaccinated. Experts fear that the latest data confirms that Omicron might have a heightened ability to evade vaccines.

Omicron has been classified as a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has 50 genetic changes to the original virus.

Singapore-based infectious disease expert Dr. Leong Hoe Nam warned last week that Omicron will likely become the dominant strain in the world in the coming months. 

He said that although inoculations against the new variant can be developed quickly, they will need to be tested for 3-6 months to prove that they are effective. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had previously said that shots could be ready in less than 100 days. 

"Omicron will dominate and overwhelm the whole world in three to six months," Hoe Nam told CNBC news. "By the time the vaccines come, practically everyone will be infected with Omicron given its" high infectiousness and transmissibility.

The Delta strain, which currently accounts for 99% of worldwide COVID infections, started becoming more common in the Indian state of Maharashtra in March 2021 and was dominant globally by July. 

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

Alarming data on Omicron has prompted the Israeli government to take strict measures in curbing the spread of Omicron in the country. It decided, among other things, to add 50 African countries, including South Africa, onto its no-fly list. This means that Israelis are not allowed to travel to those countries, and those who return from there would have to self-isolate upon arrival. 

Immigration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, who was born in Ethiopia, signaled on Sunday that racism potentially influenced the government's decision to ban travel from parts of Africa.

She condemned the bans during a cabinet meeting, asking why Africa was shunned while other "white countries" with confirmed Omicron cases remained open, according to The Jerusalem Post. 

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett responded by telling her that the decision was led by statistics, not bias.

"The reality is that two weeks ago, there were hundreds of people in Africa who were infected, and now there are thousands," he explained, the paper reported.

Israel is one of many states which recently elected to restrict flights from Africa, citing concerns over a domestic spread of Omicron from travelers.

The travel bans were condemned by South Africa's foreign ministry, who said the state "should be applauded and not punished" for discovering the variant.

Additionally, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized the slew of restrictions, which he called "travel apartheid."

i24NEWS contributed to this report. 

The post Israel Omicron cases rises to 21, officials expecting dozens more appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The highly contagious Delta variant continued to subside in Israel on Thursday with new cases having dropped to a three-month low. The Health Ministry reported on Friday morning that of the 87,444 Israelis it screened for the coronavirus the day before, 983 (1.19%) tested positive.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The reproduction rate, which relates to the number of people each confirmed carrier infects, stands at 0.76. There are currently 14,505 active cases in the country with 448 Israelis hospitalized. Of those, 311 are in serious condition.

According to the data, 78.1% (244 people) of those in serious condition are unvaccinated. Of the other 69 patients, 48 have been fully inoculated and 21 received two vaccine doses but did not get their third jabs.

Israel has reported 1,321,591 cases, including 8,037 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Thus far, 5,710,397 have been vaccinated twice, 6,215,675 received one dose and 3,888,606 got their third jabs as well.

Also on Thursday, the government said that tourists will be allowed back in Israel starting on Nov. 1 in small groups and under various limitations, The move comes despite the newly discovered strain of the Delta variant, known as AY4.2, which could be more transmissible.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said that foreigners who were fully vaccinated less than six months ago, or who have received a booster shot more recently, will be eligible to enter the country. People who recovered from COVID-19 less than six months ago may also visit.

The rules recognize most internationally recognized vaccines, including Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Sinovak and Sinopharm – but not Russia's Sputnik. Bennett's office said people coming from "red" countries with high outbreaks would not be permitted, while officials will monitor new variants, including AY4.2.

The decision could give a boost to the struggling tourism industry, which has been hit hard by the lack of tourists. It comes just ahead of the busy Christmas season, when tens of thousands of foreigners visit holy sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, in Judea and Samaria.

Senior cabinet ministers, along with health, tourism, economic and security experts, took part in Thursday's decision.

The Health Ministry said it will recommend that visitors from countries where the strain has been found be tested every 48 hours for the duration of their stay.

It was unclear how this intensive testing could be carried out on a practical level.

Currently, anyone who enters Israel – regardless of their citizenship or vaccination status – must undergo a PCR test before departing from a foreign country and after landing at Ben-Gurion Airport.

Health officials said Thursday that five cases of AY4.2 had been retroactively diagnosed since the first known case in Israel was confirmed on Tuesday in a sample taken from a young boy who returned to Israel from Moldova.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday cleared booster shots of Moderna's and Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccines.

The CDC also approved giving people the freedom to mix and match any of the three vaccines approved for use in the US, the agency said in a statement.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The CDC approval came a day after the US Food and Drug Administration authorized booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

A booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech was 95.6% effective against the coronavirus when compared to a vaccinated group that did not get the third shot, data from a large study released by the companies showed on Thursday.

The companies said the booster was tested on 10,000 participants aged 16 and older who had received two doses in its earlier trials. A booster administered about 11 months after the second shot had a favorable safety profile and worked against the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, they said.

The post COVID cases drop to 3-month low in Israel as 4th wave wanes appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Four months into one of its worst coronavirus outbreaks, Israel is seeing a sharp decrease in morbidity and severe illness, aided by the third vaccine shot campaign. 

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter 

The Health Ministry reported on Friday that of the 89,942 Israelis it screened for the virus the day before, 1,325 tested positive, meaning that 1.48% of tests processed in this period turned out positive, the lowest since mid-July.

As of Friday morning, there were 20,891 active or symptomatic cases in the country, with 544 patients hospitalized. The hospitalized patients included 198 who were listed in critical condition and 164 on ventilators. The reproduction rate, which relates to the number of people each confirmed carrier infects, stood at 0.75. 

Israel has reported 1,313,755 confirmed cases, including 7,976 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. From the beginning of October, 185 Israelis have lost their lives to the virus, 83% of whom were either completely unvaccinated or had not received a booster shot.  

A total of 5,695,702 Israelis have been vaccinated with two shots, 6,199,526 have received at least one dose, and 3,818,830 have received both doses as well as a booster.

A fourth COVID wave, fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant, hit the country in June. 

Rather than imposing a national lockdown, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett bet on a national booster shot campaign for Israelis over the age of 12. The government also mandated face masks and reinstated the so-called "green pass" vaccination certificates that only allow fully vaccinated Israelis and those who recovered from the virus to visit restaurants and entertainment venues. 

Since peaking in early September, daily infections in Israel have fallen more than 80%, with severe cases nearly halved.

"Day by day we are overcoming the Delta wave," Bennett said on Tuesday, crediting government policy for "precise, smart and flexible management allowing life alongside the coronavirus."

The government's "life alongside COVID" strategy – which has not come without cost or controversy – has kept schools and the economy open.

On Thursday, the ministry presented the latest safety data from its booster campaign to a panel of advisers at the US Food and Drug Administration considering authorization of additional booster shots.

The data shows that among people over 60 – the first group to have received the third shots – infections began declining rapidly about two weeks after the doses were administered, while morbidity was still climbing among other age groups.

Data analysis by Doron Gazit and Yinon Ashkenazy of the Hebrew University's COVID monitoring team showed the virus' reproduction rate began to drop in each age group following the third shot.

Two months into the Delta wave, vaccinated people over the age of 60 made up more than half of severe COVID cases. The majority were over 70 with health conditions that put them at higher risk.

Since the administration of boosters, mostly unvaccinated, often younger, people are bearing the brunt of serious illness. They currently make up about 75% of hospitalized patients in severe condition, while those vaccinated with two or three shots account for a quarter of such cases.

Ran Balicer, who heads the government's coronavirus expert advisory panel, said a combination of measures curbed the Delta wave.

"These include the mask mandate, the 'green passes', and massive testing. But undoubtedly, the most impactful factor in bringing down the Delta wave was the national vaccination campaign with booster doses," he said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories! 

Nevertheless, Bennett has been criticized by some scientists for rejecting tougher measures that would have kept Delta infections lower from the start. They included government health officials who feared the "life alongside COVID" policy exacted too heavy a toll.

"Over 1,400 people have died in this wave. So as much as there are benefits to keeping the economy open, it also comes at a price," Director of Public Health Services at the Health Ministry Dr. Sharon Elroi Preiss said. 

By September, hospitals strained to care for COVID patients that could have perhaps been avoided, doctors and health officials said.

"It's a good policy, but it has its price," said Yael Haviv-Yadid, head of the critical care ward at Ramat Gan's Sheba Medical Center, whose unit saw an influx of young, unvaccinated patients. "The teams are very tired and burnt out."

In any case, Balicer cautioned that "Israel was the first country to deal with the combined challenge posed by the Delta variant and mass waning immunity, but it is definitely not the last.

"Other countries will face this complex challenge and will have to figure out their own ways of dealing with it," he added, "and the price could be high."

The post Health officials hail booster campaign as COVID cases hit 3-month low appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Israel's national booster campaign continues to bear fruit as the highly contagious Delta wave continues to subside. The Health Ministry reported Sunday that of the 64,742 Israelis it screened for the virus in the past 24 hours, 1,709 (2.76%) tested positive.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

There are currently 42,570 active cases in the country, with 879 Israelis hospitalized. Of those, 254 are in critical condition and 205 are on ventilators. Nine Israelis lost their lives to the virus on Saturday, bringing the total death toll to 7,783.

Israel has reported 1,289,240 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. In terms of vaccinations, 6,127,957 Israelis have been fully inoculated, 5,647,012 received their first jab and 3,472,304 got the third shot as well.

Meanwhile, an antiviral pill developed by US pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co could half the chances of dying or being hospitalized for those most at risk of contracting COVID-19, with some experts hailing it as a potential breakthrough in how the virus is treated.

If it gets authorization, molnupiravir ─ which is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus ─ would be the first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19.

Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, told reporters: "The data are impressive," and highlighted that the trial results showed there were no deaths among patients who received the drug compared to eight deaths in the placebo group.

The US has procured 1.7 million courses of molnupiravir should it be greenlighted, with the option to buy more.
Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said they plan to seek US emergency use authorization for the pill as soon as possible and to make regulatory applications worldwide.

The results from the Phase III trial – which sent Merck shares up more than 9% – were so strong that the study is being stopped early at the recommendation of outside monitors.

Planned interim analysis of 775 patients in Merck's study looked at hospitalizations or deaths. It found that 7.3% of those given molnupiravir were hospitalized and none had died by 29 days after treatment, compared with hospitalization of 14.1% of placebo patients. There were also eight deaths in the placebo group.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

In other news, an Israeli woman is hospitalized in the Maldives after having contracted COVID while on vacation in the South Asian country. Galina Ganchev traveled to the country with her daughter and developed severe pneumonia.

Due to Ganchev's severe condition, local doctors would like to put her on a ventilator. However, the daughter, who claims that the level of healthcare at the hospital is very poor, refuses to give her consent.

"We know that inserting the tube into the lungs is very dangerous, many die from infections or do not wake up or when they do, they are no longer able to breathe on their own," she said.

Neither the mother nor the daughter had been vaccinated.

"We did not get inoculated and would like to warn those who still aren't vaccinated – look what happened to my mom," the daughter said.

The travel insurance company that Ganchev and her daughter used said she will only be flown to Israel if her condition worsens.

i24NEWS contributed to this report. ‏

The post Report: New COVID pill cuts risk of death, hospitalization by 50% appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.