• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Director General of Health Ministry Warns of Rising Morbidity

Aug 2, 2021

Early on Sunday morning, the Director-General of Health Ministry, Prof. Nachman Ash, stated that the morbidity in the State of Israel is steadily rising and showing no signs of letting up. His statement came after the country recorded a total number of 212 serious patients, which was 11 more than the number recorded just 12 hours earlier. Since Thursday, this figure has increased by around 60 patients. 

As of now, the rate of people testing positive for the deadly disease has crossed the 3% mark. According to the minister, the morbidity has not slowed even a little. He said that the data is being monitored regularly and the only reassurance that the country has right now is that the number of patients on ventilators has remained stable. However, he expressed concern over the current pandemic situation in the country. 

Around 37 patients in Israel are currently on ventilators. On Thursday, there had been 27, whereas there were only 20 last Sunday. Around 2,080 new cases of the deadly disease were discovered on Saturday, which is a number lesser than the last few days. However, the number of tests processed was also low. Only 66,000 had been conducted, as opposed to the 90,000 that were being carried out on a daily basis. 

In addition, the reproduction rate, which is also known as R, is on the rise once again. This number is used to measure how many people on average are being infected by one person carrying the disease. It has now reached 1.38, whereas just a couple of days earlier, it was standing at 1.33. Experts have previously explained that when R is greater than 1, it is an indication that morbidity in the country is on the rise. 

On Saturday, no less than three people also lost their lives to the virus, which brought the total number of deaths to 47 in the month of July. But this figure is not as bad as the one that was recorded at the peak of the pandemic. Back then, the virus was killing off dozens of people in a time span of 24 hours. The number is still causing concern amongst the relevant authorities, as it is a significant increase from June when only eight months succumbed to the disease. In the month of May, the total number of people who died due to the virus was 35. 

Ash expressed some hope for the future, saying that the recently inaugurated campaign of the government to administer a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine has brought in a positive response. The relevant authorities in the country started to give out the third jab to people aged over 60 from Friday. 

According to the Director-General, the third vaccine may last for a longer period of time. He added that he is hoping that the country does not have to re-administer the vaccine after every six months. He further revealed that the government is not looking to impose any further restrictions, in light of the upcoming Jewish holiday in September. 

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