Omicron in Israel: Serious COVID Cases Down 24 Percent in One Week

Serious coronavirus cases have fallen by 24 percent in one week, according to Israel's Health Ministry, as the omicron wave continues to taper off.

There are 927 serious cases in Israel, Health Ministry data showed on Wednesday. A full 331 are in critical condition with 271 on ventilators and 28 attached to ECMO machines. In early February, serious cases reached a high of 1,229 in Israel.

The COVID-19 infection rate known as the R number – the average number of people each coronavirus carrier infects – continues to drop below 1, meaning that the pandemic is shrinking in Israel. The latest number, calculated using data from the last ten days, stands at 0.68 – the lowest number since September.

On Tuesday, 20,340 people tested positive for the coronavirus, a drop from 23,555 the day before. Of the 121,193 tests conducted yesterday, 18.73% returned a positive result.

Over the last week, 236 patients have died from coronavirus. Israel's total coronavirus death toll stands at 9,651.

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Last week, Israel's Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz lashed out at the unvaccinated, saying many of those in serious condition "brought it upon themselves" by not getting a fourth shot of the vaccine or refusing a COVID treatment pill.

"Our hospitals are overcrowded, and a big part of that is people who are not vaccinated or did not take the pill," Horowitz told Kan Ben public radio on Tuesday, after visiting a COVID ward at one of Jerusalem's hospitals, where he said "a vast majority" of patients were not fully vaccinated.