Israel's so-called coronavirus cabinet is slated to convene on Tuesday evening to debate reimposing restrictions on public activity and overseas travel as part of the effort to curb the spread of the Delta variant racing through the country.
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The Health Ministry reported that 3,818 Israelis were diagnosed with COVID on Monday. Of the patients hospitalized, 221 are in serious condition and 46 are on ventilators.
Israel has recorded a total of 881,282 coronavirus cases since the onset of the global pandemic in March 2020, including 6,492 deaths.
Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash said Monday that the continued rise in infections cases "is worrying."
"The next steps will be tightening the Green Pass and additional options, as much as possible without harming the economy," he noted.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Health Ministry officials on Monday to discuss the possibility of restricting public gatherings as well as increase enforcement with respect to wearing face masks in enclosed public spaces and expanding the 'Green Pass' system, which limits entry to some venues to Israelis who have been vaccinated, those who have recovered from COVID, and those who have tested negative for the virus recently.
The ministers are also expected to discuss potentially expanding the groups eligible to receive a third dose of the COVID vaccine.
Israel launched the third-shot campaign for people 60 and over on Friday, with the Health Ministry reporting high demand for the jab. Health officials are said to be considering offering the booster to Israelis in high-risk groups, even if they are under the age of 60, as well as lowering the age for the third dose to 50.
Meanwhile, with a new wave of COVID-19 infections fueled by the Delta variant striking countries worldwide, disease experts are scrambling to learn whether the latest version of coronavirus is making people – mainly the unvaccinated - sicker than before.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that Delta, first identified in India and now dominant worldwide, is "likely more severe" than earlier versions of the virus, according to an internal report made public on Friday.
The agency cited research in Canada, Singapore, and Scotland showing that people infected with the Delta variant were more likely to be hospitalized than patients earlier in the pandemic.
Disease experts said the three papers suggest a greater risk from the variant, but the study populations are limited and the findings have not yet been reviewed by outside experts. Doctors treating patients infected with Delta described a more rapid onset of COVID-19 symptoms and in many regions an overall increase in serious cases.
But the experts said more work is needed to compare outcomes among larger numbers of individuals in epidemiologic studies to sort out whether one variant causes more severe disease than another.
"It's difficult to pin down the increase in severity and population bias," said Lawrence Young, a virologist at the UK's Warwick Medical School.
In addition, it is likely that the extraordinary rate of Delta transmission is also contributing to a greater number of severe cases arriving at hospitals, the experts said.
Delta is as contagious as chickenpox and far more contagious than the common cold or flu, according to the CDC report.
Research from China suggesting that the Delta variant replicates much faster and generates 1,000 times more virus in the body compared to the original strain highlights the biggest danger of this new wave, Barron said.
"It is hard to tell if they are more sick because of the Delta variant or if they would have been more sick anyway," she said.
Other doctors said patients infected with Delta appear to become ill more quickly, and in some cases with more severe symptoms, than those they treated earlier in the pandemic.
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