The COVID-19 reproduction rate (R) in Israel is growing, and as of Sunday morning stood at 0.99, meaning that one confirmed carrier infects 0.99 other people, the Health Ministry reported.
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A demographic analysis shows that the Haredi population has the lowest reproduction rate at 0.81, compared to 0.96 for the general population and 1.12 in the Arab sector, where the percentage of the population who have been vaccinated is lower than in the rest of the country.
The Health Ministry reported that 24,291 COVID tests processed Saturday identified 1,429 new cases, a positive rate of 6%.
As of Sunday morning, there were 40,108 active or symptomatic cases in Israel. A total of 1,278 COVID patients were hospitalized, of whom 776 were listed in serious condition, including 241 who were on ventilators. On Saturday, 21 more patients died, bringing Israel's COVID death toll to 5,738 since the pandemic hit Israel early in 2020.
The majority (70%) of cases in Israel are in people under the age of 40.
Meanwhile, 4,687,114 Israelis have received first doses of the COVID vaccine (50.4% of the population), and 3,320,355 (35.71%) have received both doses. Of people aged 50 and over, 87% have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine.
A total of 993 medical workers were in quarantine on Sunday, including 66 doctors and 264 nurses.
On Saturday, Health Ministry Director-General Professor Hezi Levy spoke to Israel Hayom about the Purim celebrations that have taken place against public health orders since Thursday.
"It's very, very hard to watch things like these. Personally, they pain me. We're running around like crazy to vaccinate people, and seeing sights like these is infuriating," he said.
In the next few days, the Corona cabinet is scheduled to meet to discuss whether or not to allow more reopenings, which could take effect as early as Sunday, March 7. The Health Ministry is keeping close tabs on the data in order to put together a recommendation.
"We really want to open the middle schools and get the students back in school, and we intend to take the next step in an orderly, cautious manner," Levy said.
"The reproduction rate has already reached 0.97 [on Saturday], and if in a few days we see that Purim celebrations caused outbreaks, it will go up. That could put us farther away from the next step of reopenings and the chance of celebrating Passover like we all want to. No more than 50% of young people are vaccinated, and it's clear to us that the partiers include a large percentage of non-vaccinated people who apparently don't take care to wear masks. Anyone who looks at these parties can understand that it will be difficult for us to take the next step of reopenings, if new cases remains high," he warned.
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