The Health Ministry reported 40,430 coronavirus cases on Friday morning, slightly down from the day before. Altogether, 319,572 Israelis were screened for the virus in the past 24 hours, which puts the infection rate at 12.65%.
The reproduction rate, which refers to the number of people each confirmed carrier infects, stands at 1.8.
The number of active cases also decreased slightly and now stands at 48,192. Currently, 968 patients are hospitalized, of whom 306 are in serious condition.
According to data, 178,988 Israelis are in quarantine. Of those, 923 are doctors and 1,774 nurses.
Israel has reported 1,713,563 cases, including 8,293 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020. Twenty-six Israelis died of COVID in the past seven days.
Thus far, 506,022 Israelis have received the fourth vaccine shot, 4,381,906 were jabbed three times, 6,006,927 got two doses and 6,665,249 were immunized once.
Meanwhile, a subspecies of the Omicron variant has been identified in Israel this week.
The mutation, known as BA.2, was found in 20 people so far, Kan news reported.
There is currently no exact information about the danger that the subvariant poses. BA.2 is currently known to have more mutations than the original Omicron variant, with scientists speculating it might be more infectious.
It was first seen in China several weeks ago and is believed to have originated in India. BA.2 has also been identified in Denmark, Australia, Canada, and Singapore.
Scientists told Kan that they are concerned about the development. Some researchers are calling the new variant “stealth Omicron” as it lacks the deletion that allows PCR tests to spot it.
In related news, National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata tested positive for COVID on Friday morning. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his associates took antigen tests after Hulata was identified as a carrier, and tested negative. The Coronavirus Cabinet, which was supposed to conveneve on Sunday, canceled the meeting after several lawmakers were found to be infected, including Housing Minister Ze’ev Elkin.
In the meantime, coronavirus wards across Israel reported that there are significantly fewer patients connected to ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machines in the current Omicron infection waves compared to previous waves. Altogether in Israel, 12 coronavirus patients are connected to ECMO machines.
“Ninety-eight percent of our coronavirus patients are [infected with] Omicron,” Professor Dror Mevorach from the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem in Jerusalem said. “There are less Omicron patients on ventilators, and as of now, not a single one is connected to an Ecmo machine. It seems that people who get infected with Omicron recover faster. Omicron seems to be a milder disease.”
Dr. Amir Alimi, from the English Hospital in Nazareth, said that Omicron “patients exhibit less fever, sore throat and loss of sense of taste.” He said although “those hospitalized require less oxygen, the coronavirus ward remains overloaded.”
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