Coronavirus deaths and the number of seriously ill patients doubled in Israel in a week, according to Health Ministry data published on Friday morning.
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The reproduction rate, which relates to the number of people each confirmed carrier infects, stands at 1.96. Any value above 1 shows that the transmission rate is growing.
Of the 206,704 Israelis who were screened for the virus in the past 24 hours, 16,830 (8.22%) tested positive. There are 86,071 active cases in the country with 338 patients hospitalized. Of those, 143 are in serious condition.
Thus far, 4,309,141 Israelis have been vaccinated with the third dose, 5,955,873 got two shots and 6,613,437 received one jab. Over 195,999 Israelis were immunized with the fourth dose since the launch of the campaign five days ago.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash said on Thursday that Pfizer's oral coronavirus pills were not a "game-changer."
"We estimate that it will prevent several hundred serious illnesses," he said, speaking to medical students at the Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan.
"Many cannot take them because of pregnancy, kidney failure, and other [restrictions]. Another challenge is to identify patients at risk. There is also a logistical complexity to bring the poll to the patient's home on time and monitor the response," he explained.
The first shipment of the Pfizer pills landed in Israel on Dec. 30, one of the first countries in the world to receive the new drug. The Health Ministry granted emergency approval to the medication after the US Federal Drug Administration did the same.
In related news, Coronavirus Commissioner Professor Zarka said in an interview on Friday the ministry predicted 2,500 critically ill patients to be hospitalized with COVID during the Omicron wave.
"Omicron is not yet thought to cause serious illness, but it is too early to celebrate," he said. "Some scenarios predict 4,000 patients in critical condition. But the most likely scenario is 2,500."
Zarka assured the healthcare system would be able to handle such a caseload, but "it needs more oxygen."
In the meantime, the health and education ministries announced on Thursday a new educational outline to take effect next week, pending approval by the government and the Knesset's Education Committee.
The new outline essentially cancels the previous "traffic light" system that determined whether students studied online or in class based on the coronavirus infection rate in the city. It will also scrape the previously necessary 70% of vaccinated students for the class to study face-to-face.
When coming into contact with a confirmed coronavirus carrier, students and teachers will be subject to the same testing and quarantine rules as the rest of the country.
If a teacher or student tests positive for COVID, others who are vaccinated or recovered from the virus (as per Health Ministry definitions) will have to take an at-home antigen test. If the results come back positive, the person will be required to self-isolate for 10 days, to be exited with a doctor's approval.
Non-vaccinated students will have to take a supervised antigen test. If negative, they will be required to quarantine for seven days and take another supervised antigen test at the end of the week. If positive, they will be required to self-isolate for 10 days, to be exited with a doctor's approval.
Teachers will continue to be required to present "green pass" vaccination certificates. Indoor mask mandates will also remain intact.
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