Tel Aviv: Israel recorded another four months of daily coronavirus infections, with 855 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, but data from the Ministry of Health show that serious cases have begun to stabilize over the past few days.
Although the delta variant is still progressing, the number of serious cases has decreased slightly and currently stands at 52, of which 18 are in a critical condition and 17 in ventilators. Israel has 5,817 active cases and so far 6443 people have died from the virus. It is down from 53 on Thursday and 51 on Wednesday, after a week of a steady increase in seriously ill patients.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office announced on Friday morning that it would convene an inter-ministerial meeting later that day, as the delta variant is spreading around the world. Officials from the Ministries of Health, Defense, Home Affairs, Finance and Transport will attend the meeting.
From Friday, all passengers arriving in Israel must be quarantined for 24 hours or until they receive a negative COVID-19 test result. In addition, the Israeli Ministry of Health has issued a travel ban to Spain and Kyrgyzstan, which will take effect next Friday.
In addition, arrivals from countries classified with a severe travel warning must enter a 7-day quarantine. These countries include Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Namibia, Paraguay, Seychelles, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Israeli army reported on Friday that 135 people in the workforce were suffering from mild symptoms of the coronavirus and 535 were isolated at home.
While new daily cases have increased in the past month, the daily increase in infections is still lower than the Ministry of Health’s forecast of about two weeks ago, which predicted that within a week, 600 new cases of coronavirus and 1,000 per day would get. in ten days.
The delta variant of the virus, which originated in India, is more than twice as contagious as the initial strain and has become the dominant strain of the virus in Israel.
The Israeli government on Thursday announced a proposal that residents who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, recovered or recently received a negative test result, attend major indoor events.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Israel could defeat the delta variant within five weeks.
Bennett said his government was trying to prevent the mass closures that had characterized the country’s handling of the three previous coronavirus outbreaks under its predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu. Instead, he said, Israel would opt for a policy that promotes the wearing of masks, the promotion of vaccinations and the promotion of social distance.
“We have two options: the first option is to remain indifferent, say that this is the government’s problem, and then things will increase, and we will have to put in place a closure; the other option is for each of us to take responsibility and then we’ll be able to end the whole business in five weeks,” Bennett said.