Israeli health officials reported Monday that more than ten thousand new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed over the past 24 hours, an increase of more than four thousand infections over the previous day. The total of 10,720 new cases of the coronavirus has come close to the country’s record of 11,333 daily new cases, set on September 2, 2021.
On Tuesday, Health Ministry Director-General Professor Nachman Ash received his fourth booster shot of the vaccine in Ramat Hasharon. He urged all Israelis ages 60 and older to do likewise. In a news conference broadcast live on Monday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett noted that the fourth shot might not entirely prevent someone from catching the virus but will certainly minimize the chances of serious illness that might otherwise result.
פרופ' נחמן אש, מנכ"ל משרד הבריאות, התחסן במרכז הרפואי של מכבי שירותי בריאות ברמת השרון כשהוא מלווה בראש מחוז השרון במכבי, ד"ר אנג'לה עירוני pic.twitter.com/se5DmDa59t
— Yollan cohen יולן כהן (@yollancohen) January 4, 2022
Just two weeks ago, there were 8,000 active cases of the virus – but the total has now reached 46,455. Of those, 236 Israelis are hospitalized with complications from COVID-19, including 117 patients listed in serious condition – another figure that is growing.
The basic “R” reproduction number that represents the average number of people infected by each carrier of the virus has risen to 1.91; anything over “1” means the pandemic is once again on the rise.
Likewise, the positivity rate of 5.51 percent – the number of daily cases diagnosed Monday out of 197,614 coronavirus tests performed — indicates the outbreak is growing.
