Jerusalem — Israel’s health system registered Thursday 307 new Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country in the past 24 hours, the highest count of cases since the beginning of April.
The highly contagious Delta (Indian) COVID-19 variant entered the country with passengers who were infected abroad and did not abide by the quarantine requirements. The variant has spread to several cities and locations throughout Israel.
An IDF report shows that the Indian variant is 60% more contagious than the British strain, the dominant one in Israel, and causes 2.5 times more hospitalizations. However, the Pfizer-developed vaccine, with which the majority of Israelis were vaccinated, is effective against this variant.
The government has issued a number of directives to contend with the outbreaks, with an emphasis on Israelis returning from abroad who are importing new variants into the country, after the virus almost completely disappeared in the country.
The requirement to wear masks in closed public areas returned last Friday, only a week and a half after it was canceled.
While the majority of Israel’s population over the age of 16 is vaccinated, the majority of the children are not, and only recently were the vaccines made available to the 12 to 15 age group. The vaccination pace is slow due to a lack of interest on the public’s part.
Over 5,598,000 Israeli citizens have received the first dose of the vaccine, some 60% of the entire population, and more than 5,169,000, about 55%, have received the second shot.
Some 85% of the adult population is vaccinated, and therefore the effect of this outbreak on the health system and its ability to contend with a mass influx of patients is expected to be minimal.
Only 54 Israelis are hospitalized with COVID-19 and the number of patients hospitalized in serious condition remained low and fairly stable at 29.