Israel Faces Steep Rise In Omicron Variant Cases, Adds New Restrictions

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FILE - Dr. Manjul Shukla transfers Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, at a mobile vaccination clinic in Worcester, Mass. Pfizer said Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may protect against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israel is experiencing a steep rise in coronavirus cases including the Omicron variant. On Friday and Shabbat the number of people infected with Omicron in Israel doubled and the total number of people testing positive was 2,285, the highest number since October 13th.

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1,118 Israelis have tested positive for Omicron,723 of them returning from abroad. People who were exposed to the Omicron variant will require a 14-day quarantine, although those fully vaccinated will require a shorter period to be determined by the Health Ministry.

Currently the virus’s rate of reproduction (R) stands at 1.41%, a steep rise since last week. The number of people in serious condition rose by 118% over the past week, but there are still less than 100 people in serious condition. Currently there are 154 people in hospitals, 98 in serious condition and 39 connected to respirators, 5 more than the previous day.

6,502,720 Israelis have received the first vaccination and 4,191,735 representing nearly half of the population have received the booster shot. 1,364,282 Israelis have contracted coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Bennett directed the ministry to protect the older population and those residing in senior citizen homes. All those entering senior citizen facilities will require a quick coronavirus test on entry. Moreover tens of thousands of schoolchildren in “Red” cities with high rates of infection will be studying by Zoom. Currently 38,000 schoolchildren are in quarantine and 5,168 have tested positive for the virus.


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Yossi Berkowitz
Yossi Berkowitz
2 years ago

With such a high infection rate, maybe they should conduct a study to see if the vaccine is actually beneficial in containing the spread.

NYorker
NYorker
2 years ago

The more the population are vaccinated the more they will get all future variances, because the vaccine kills your natural immune system.

D. Fault
D. Fault
2 years ago

Pfizer vaccine does not work well. The Moderna does work, but the crazy Israeli bureaucrats have bought Pfizer and won’t admit their error. So they keep buying Pfizer which doesn’t work and creating all these restrictions in order to cover themselves.