Once the number of COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition hits 1,200, quality of care will be affected and the Health Ministry will ask the government to instate a lockdown to curb the spread of the virus, Israel's national coronavirus response coordinator, Professor Salman Zarka, said at a press conference Monday.

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Zarka spoke as the number of new COVID cases hit a record high on Monday. As of Monday morning, there were 222 COVID patients in serious condition, 71 patients in critical condition, 58 COVID patients on ventilators and 12 on ECMO machines.

"It's important we don't get to those numbers, and certainly not to a situation in which the hospitals can't cope. The more the numbers go up, we might have to approach the government and ask for a way of cutting them down significantly, like a lockdown. I hope we don't wind up there," Zarka said.

"Minor restrictions won't help – a lockdown like the first one, with people not allowed farther than 100 meters outside the house – will," he added.

According to Zarka, the number of confirmed cases is rising consistently, and has not yet peaked. "We have the ability to protect ourselves and make it through the next three to five weeks safely. The vaccine protects against serious cases, as well as transmission, and is also effective against the Delta variant, which still exists."

Zarka said it was important that groups at higher risk of developing serious cases avoid large gatherings, even ones that comply with the Green Pass vaccination certificate guidelines.

"There should be as little contact as possible right now," he said. "Anyone suffering from respiratory symptoms must stay home, get tested, and not go to work or school – that's how we'll avoid the risk of transmission. Just like we made it through the previous waves because we were responsible for one another, we'll make it through the current one peacefully and healthfully," Zarka said.

Touching on the authorities' revised guidelines for COVID testing, Zarka said that Israelis age 60 and over and members of at-risk groups had received text messages from their HMOs informing them that they were entitled to PCR tests.

"We offered the tests to this population as a result of prioritizing and policies that were adjusted for the Omicron wave. In a wave like this, no country can test everyone using PCR kits," he explained.

"We haven't yet rejected members of other groups from being PCR tested. We are allowing the public to adjust its behavior to the situation and keeping tabs on the situation," Zarka added.

When asked about the high number of hospital workers unavailable because they had contracted the virus or were in self-isolation pending test results, Zarka said that health authorities were examining possibilities that would allow essential workers – in the healthcare sector and other fields – to work.

Zarka also said that steps were being taken to expand COVID testing in schools, and that the number of testing facilities in schools would be increased from 250-260 to 600 in the next few days.

Monday ended with 30,970 new confirmed cases. There were 169,117 active or symptomatic cases nationwide.

Also on Monday, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said he would evaluate the government's decision-making process during the fourth and fifth COVID waves in Israel.

"In the previous waves, we checked, among other things, how the crisis was handled at the national level, how the Health Ministry functioned, including the system of testing; economic programs; and actions taken by the Education Ministry. We intend to look into some of these issues in the current wave, and whether lessons were learned from previous ones," Englman said.

Englman said that one of the issues he intended to examine was the government and healthcare system's handling of tests, the efficiency of testing sites, and the vaccination program. Aspects to be evaluated include purchasing and process.

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With Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur behind us, Israel is seeing a spike in the COVID virus reproduction rate, the number of people infected by a confirmed carrier, the Health Ministry reported Thursday evening.

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As of Thursday night, the reproduction rate had jumped from 1.06 on Wednesday to 1.14.

Since the pandemic reached Israel in early 2020, 7,465 Israelis have died of the virus, 18 of whom succumbed to the virus on Wednesday and Thursday alone.

On Friday, the Health Ministry reported 3,171 new COVID cases, but noted that the number was skewed because tests were not conducted on Yom Kippur, although processing continued.

Video: Adam Geffen

As of Friday morning, 658 COVID patients were hospitalized in serious condition, including 182 on ventilators. On Yom Kippur (Thursday), 64 patients were added to the list of serious cases, and another 30 on Friday.

There were 35 children age 18 and under in the hospital with COVID, including five who were listed in serious or critical condition. A total of 34 pregnant women and 17 newly-delivered mothers were also hospitalized with COVID – 11 of whom were in serious condition. Five of the women were on ventilators and two required ECMO support. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the pregnant women and new mothers hospitalized for COVID are unvaccinated.

Of all hospitalized COVID patients, 61% are unvaccinated, and another 27% were vaccinated with the original two doses. Only 9% of hospitalized COVID patients received the two additional doses plus the booster shot. When it comes to the patients on ventilators, 71% (132) are unvaccinated and 48 (26%) were vaccinated.

As for the patients on ECMO machines, 88% are unvaccinated.

Some 820,000 Israelis age 12 and over (13% of the population) were still unvaccinated as of Friday.

According to the Health Ministry's traffic light system, which grades cities, towns, and communities based on their COVID numbers, 137 cities in Israel were listed "red" on Friday, meaning that 25% of the population lives in "red" cities or towns. There were 220 orange cities (home to 45% of the population), 289 yellow cities, and 468 green communities.

Meanwhile, two aircraft landed in Israel on Friday morning carrying shipments of the 2 million rapid testing kits Israel has ordered as part of its school COVID testing program.

The kits were ordered from Korea in a joint project by the Education Ministry, Health Ministry, Magen David Adom, and Geffen Medical. A third plane carrying more kits was due to land later Friday. In the last few days, some 20 planes have already landed with cargoes of testing kits.

Days before the Sukkot festival begins, the Health Ministry reported that 147,000 public school students and 3,125 staff members were in quarantine. Thus far, 25.9% of public school students have been vaccinated against COVID.

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A week into Israel's coronavirus vaccination campaign and hours before a third nationwide lockdown is due to take effect, the third wave of the virus is still sweeping over the country.

The Health Ministry reported Sunday that the 64,662 COVID tests administered in the last 24 hours yielded 2,630 positive results, or 4.1% of the tests processed.

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There were 35,525 active or symptomatic COVID patients in Israel as of Sunday, 1,054 of whom were being treated in hospitals.

Of the hospitalized patients, 160 were listed in critical condition and another 584 were listed in seriously condition. There were 133 patients on ventilators and another 178 hospitalized patients listed in moderate condition.

There were 2,861 medical workers in quarantine, including 411 doctors and 768 nurses.

The death toll from COVID in Israel stood at 3,210.

On Friday, Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer reported that hundreds of Holocaust survivors had arrived to be vaccinated without appointments after an organization that coordinates medical care for survivors reached out to Sheba.

Sheba staff also vaccinated survivors' caregivers to reduce the risk of exposing the elderly to the virus.

Director of Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv and former coronavirus coordinator Professor Ronni Gamzu said that his hospital was providing thousands of vaccinations a day and had free slots open.

"I invite people age 60 and over to make an appointment and be vaccinated here," Gamzu said.

Wolfson Medical Center in Holon has coordinated with municipal authorities to administer vaccinations around the clock from Monday to Wednesday this week. Holon residents age 70 and over can make appointments starting Sunday.

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