Jerusalem, 20 March, 20J22 (TPS) — After weeks in which the Coronavirus (COVID-19) was in recession in Israel, the virus has returned to spread in the country.

For the first time in about two months, the R coefficient, which indicates the spread of the virus, was registered at 1.1, pointing to a spread of the virus.

According to the Ministry of Health’s data, a very high 21.17% of the COViD-19 tests done over the weekend returned positive.

Over 47,400 Israelis tested positive in the past week, an 8.6% increase over the week before that.

The number of patients hospitalized in serious condition is 331, a manageable number of the health system.

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are surging again in several Western counties. The cause is the BA.2 Omicron strain, which is more infectious than the initial BA.1 variant.

However, the BA.2 is no more likely to result in hospitalization than the BA.1, and vaccines are just as effective as they were with the first strain.

Israel has so far not taken any special steps to address the resurgence, like most other countries.

10,419 Israelis have died of COVID-19 since the outbreak in the country, including 26 in the past week.