Israel's number of new confirmed COVID cases continued to spiral, with 43,815 new COVID cases discovered Tuesday, the Health Ministry reported Wednesday, after 12.09% of the over 326,000 tests processed Tuesday came back positive.

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As of Wednesday morning, nearly 100,000 students in public schools were in quarantine, 73,550 of whom had active or symptomatic cases.

There were 222,877 active or symptomatic cases of COVID nationwide on Wednesday.

A total of 254 people were hospitalized in serious or critical condition, of whom 63 were on ventilators and 12 were hooked up to ECMO machines, figures that have more than doubled in a seven-day period.

Israel's COVID death toll since the start of the pandemic stands at 8,274.

Nearly 4.36 million Israelis have received both doses of the vaccine and a booster shot, and 424,130 have received both doses and two booster shots.

A team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who are advising the Coronavirus cabinet presented on Tuesday updated models that show that if the current wave of transmission continues, Israel will see new cases peak at 800,000 to 2 million in approximately two weeks, with anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 people hospitalized with serious cases. Some 2-5% of the serious cases are predicted to be children under 11, the researchers said.

On Monday, national coronavirus response coordinator Professor Salman Zarka warned that if more than 1,200 people were hospitalized for COVID at one time, the healthcare system would be unable to cope and a lockdown would be unavoidable.

Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej told Ynet on Tuesday that Israel was heading toward herd immunity, adding that within three weeks, anywhere from 2 to 4 million people in the country should test positive.

On Tuesday, Israel cut the isolation time for asymptomatic COVID-19 cases from 10 days to seven, hoping to keep schools and the economy open as Omicron infections sweep the country.

People infected with the coronavirus and not suffering symptoms for three days can be out of isolation after seven days, the Health Ministry said in a statement. Those showing symptoms were required to continue to isolate for 10 days.

The decision came after a ministry study of 80 COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the virus. Lab tests showed that the likelihood of virus growth after seven days of illness was 6%, the Health Ministry said.

"The study conducted by Health Ministry experts shows that the chance that an Omicron patient will be contagious after this period of time is very low. We will not impose isolation beyond what is required, in order to maintain health, keep the economy, education system and culture going and to maintain routine life alongside the coronavirus," Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said.

Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton spoke Wednesday about her determination to keep schools open.

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"We are realizing more and more that it does immense damage to children, and we're now seeing the serious affects the lockdowns had on the kids. After a complicated year and a half and the mental health issues the students developed, we fought to start the school year on Sept. 1 despite criticism of the decision, and we made a commitment to keep school going for the sake of our children's emotional health and stability," Shasha-Biton said.

Despite the high numbers of COVID cases and quarantined students, Shasha-Biton said that "As of today [Wednesday], 90% of children are in school. I'm away of the problems and challenges. We are in difficult times and not everything is perfect, but we owe it to our children. I'll keep fighting for the 'Green Classroom' program to avoid needless quarantines," she said.

Meanwhile, healthcare officials warned Tuesday that Israel's Arab sector was poorly prepared for the Omicron wave.

A high-ranking official in the Arab healthcare sector in Jerusalem warned that the situation in the capital's Arab neighborhoods was about to "get out of control."

"In the morning, instructions say one thing, in the afternoon, another. There aren't clear decisions. The people at the top don't know how to manage things," the official said.

"People aren't buying home testing kits, or going to testing sites," the official added.

Arab communities in northern Israel appeared to be better off, although residents were still slower to respond to public health instructions than the general population in the rest of the country. The town of Shfaram has set up a testing site for members of any HMO.

Local officials said that they have seen increased demand for testing, and that messaging about COVID is consistent in schools.

i24NEWS contributed to this report

The post Israel could see up to 2 million COVID cases within 2 weeks, researchers warn appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The new government's Corona cabinet convened for the first time on Sunday to discuss a spike in new confirmed cases, due mostly to the highly contagious Delta variant.

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National Coronavirus Coordinator Professor Nachman Ash, who has just been appointed director-general of the Health Ministry, presented a number of relatively conservative steps to be taken to contain the latest uptick.

The cabinet decided that its first goal would be to provide maximum protection against the Delta variant with minimum interference in normal functioning. The cabinet also decided that the government must put systems in place to identify, track, and handle future viruses.

Strategic Affairs Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen, discussing whether the government should take steps to eradicate the spread of the Delta variant, said, "People who didn't get vaccinated – that's their problem. They took the danger on themselves," indicating that the government did not at this stage intend to instate severe restrictions.

However, officials who took part in the meeting told Israel Hayom that if the Bennett government did not take steps to reduce the spread of the virus, the new outbreak would result in seriously cases and even deaths.

The cabinet did decide to encourage children age 12 and over to be vaccinated. Cabinet ministers who have children who are eligible to receive the COVID vaccinated are expected to serve as personal examples.

On Monday morning, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett put out a video in which he issues a personal call to Israeli youth over the age of 12 to be vaccinated.

"Right now, there are enough vaccines for everyone. But there's a catch: they will expire soon, and then there won't be enough vaccines for everyone. There is a narrow window of 11 days, and we're racing against the clock," Bennett said.

"The last date to get the first dose of the vaccine is July 9. Three weeks later, you'll get the second vaccine, and then the vaccines we have in stock will expire. So I'm calling on parent and all the young men and women to get vaccinated," Bennett said.

Another important policy point of the new government is Ben-Gurion International Airport. Ash and Maj. Gen. (res.) Roni Numa, who has been appointed point man to oversee enforcement, testing, and quarantine measures at the airport, have been tasked with coming up with a model to enforce quarantines. Anyone crossing international borders into Israel will also be subject to genetic sequencing.

In Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting, the government decided that Israelis who violate travel bans and visit blacklisted countries (Argentine, Brazil, South Africa, India, Mexico, and Russia) will be subject to 5,000-shekel ($1,534) fines.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry, Health Ministry, and National Security Council have been instructed to plan for the launch of the 2021/22 school year in September, given various COVID scenarios that could be in play.

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Ash also recommended that the government expand testing of sewage, given the appearance of COVID in sewage in Ashkelon at the end of last week. Other suggestions floated included renewed contact tracing, sampling at the airport, and technologies to enforce quarantine. Testing for residents of retirement homes will resume.

As of Monday morning, there were 145 new confirmed COVID cases in Israel, 24 of which were identified after midnight Sunday. The number of active or symptomatic cases stood at 1,186, of whom 44 were hospitalized.

Of the hospitalized COVID patients, 22 were listed in serious condition, with 17 in critical condition and 16 on ventilators.

The total number of COVID fatalities since the pandemic reached Israel in early 2020 is 6,429.

Over 5.5 million Israelis have received at least the first dose of the COVID vaccine, and 5.16 million have received both doses.

The 40,123 COVID tests processed since Sunday resulted in a 0.4% positive rate.

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