Israel hits record coronavirus infections for 2nd day in row
Jerusalem, Jan 6 (EFE).- Israel registered a record number of daily coronavirus cases for a second consecutive day on Thursday, as the more transmissible Omicron variant continued its rapid spread across the country.
The Israeli health ministry reported 16,115 confirmed cases within the past 24 hours, with 4,177 more infections than Wednesday’s tally.
The rate of critically ill patients, however, remained low, with only 134 admitted to a hospital with serious condition.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned that cases were likely to rise up to 20,000 in the coming days and could even reach 50,000 at the peak of the wave and encouraged those who are unvaccinated to get immunized.
The government is taking new measures to keep the economy open and, at the same time, reintroducing rules to deal with the new highly contagious strain.
To guarantee in-person classes and avoid a return to remote learning, the education ministry said students will take rapid tests at the start of each day.
Israel expects infection rates to decline as a fourth vaccine dose is administered to people over the age of 60 and healthcare personnel.
More than 72,000 people have received the fourth shot since the start of the nationwide campaign on Monday.
Some six million of Israel’s 9.4 million people are fully vaccinated, with 4.2 million inoculated with a third booster shot.EFE
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