In a new report released Friday, the military task force on the coronavirus called on the government to reconsider plans to further ease lockdown restrictions and to act to prevent the entry of additional variants into the country.
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In coming days, the task force expects to see an increase in morbidity levels as a result of the easing of some of the restrictions and the increase in Israel's reproduction rate, which stood at 0.97, Friday, likely due to the import of the UK variant which has since become the dominant viral strain in Israel. The task force cites new research that finds that the UK variant causes more severe illness that is 60-70% more likely to require hospitalization than the original strain.
According to Health Ministry data, 3,782 of the 70,039 people who tested for COVID-19 on Thursday, were found to be carrying the virus, for an infection rate of 5.6%.
As of Friday, there were 40,445 active cases of the virus, 738 of which were serious. This relatively high number, along with the rising reproduction rate, is a sign of a halt in decreasing morbidity levels, according to the military task force report.
While 723,606 people have recovered from the virus, 5,694 have died.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein tweeted: "Most of the public understands and is aware, but I want to turn to the handful of people who can do us all harm: Leave the parties for after COVID."
"Instead of celebrating with the other, let's think of the other," he said.
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