Nearly 150,000 people in Israel are in quarantine, Health Ministry data showed Tuesday, as ministers prepare to discuss a proposal for shorter isolation time for confirmed COVID carriers, in a bid to minimize harm to the economy.
Out of those in quarantine, around 10 percent are children under the age of 15, many of whom are unvaccinated.
As the omicron strain of the coronavirus sweeps through the country, Israel’s serious cases now stand at 247, with 79 in critical condition and 59 on ventilators.
The overall number of serious cases has more than doubled in a week. According to the Health Ministry, 94.7 percent of hospital beds across Israel now occupied, with some hospitals already operating beyond full capacity.
Israel’s government fears the anticipated strain on hospitals, likely to be augmented by a personnel shortage driven by infection. Currently, 3,743 medical workers are missing work due to COVID-19 or quarantine requirements, including 542 physicians and over 1,000 nurses. The number of health workers in quarantine has doubled in less than a week.
People queue to get tested for the coronavirus in Habima square, in Tel Aviv, on Sunday.Tomer Appelbaum
Israel mandates people isolate for 10 days if infected with COVID, and that unvaccinated individuals quarantine for seven days if exposed to a COVID carrier. Those who come into contact with a coronavirus patient while fully vaccinated are required to isolate until they get a negative result on a rapid antigen test, which they can take at home or at a state testing center.
On Monday, the expert panel advising the Israeli government on the coronavirus recommended that the isolation period for confirmed cases be reduced to a week, as long as they do not have symptoms.
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The COVID cabinet is expected to discuss this measure in its meeting later on Tuesday. For the time being, there is no recommendation on reducing quarantine time in the case of exposure to a confirmed carrier.
Israel logged 37,887 COVID cases Tuesday, once again breaking the country’s record for daily new cases.
In addition, the R number – the average number of people each coronavirus carrier infects – now stands at 2.05.
The R number is calculated from data from the previous 10 days, and any number above 1 indicates that the virus is actively spreading. The Healthy Ministry has begun factoring in antigen tests from state-run testing centers as well as PCR tests in their calculation of the number, meaning the R number has fluctuated over the past few days.
As of Tuesday, 367,670 people received a fourth dose of the Pfizer vaccine, after Israel approved it for over 60s, patients living in geriatric facilities, care homes, and to immunocompromised people.
According to Health Ministry data, 14 percent of Israelis over 20 are unvaccinated, and they account for 45 percent of serious cases.
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