A total of 31,167 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Israel on Sunday, bringing the number of currently active cases to 268,274, according to a Monday morning Health Ministry update.
The number of serious cases has dropped below 1,000 for the first time since late January, standing at 994 as of Monday morning, including 268 intubated patients.
128,307 PCR and antigen tests were taken throughout the day, with a positive return rate of 24.3%.
The R-rate continues to decline, currently standing at 0.72.
Some 9,544 coronavirus-related deaths have been recorded in Israel since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
עכשיו שעברנו את שיא האומיקרון, שרשור עם כמה מחשבות, על מה שנעשה ומה שלא, ועל דיוני הקבינט ומה שהצגנו שם >>>
— Eran Segal (@segal_eran) February 14, 2022
On Monday afternoon, Ynet reported that a five-month-old baby passed away at Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem after contracting COVID-19.
According to the hospital, the baby had suffered from serious background illnesses from the time of his birth, and his condition deteriorated further after contracting COVID-19. He had been suffering from serious respiratory illness and passed away despite best efforts to save him, Ynet stated.
Taking to Twitter on Monday afternoon, Weizmann Institute scientist Prof. Eran Segal provided an overview of the last few weeks of the Omicron wave, saying now that the peak of the wave has passed there is time to review what was and was not done during its height.
He explained the predictions that had been made by the government’s coronavirus cabinet at the start of the wave, comparing it with the data in order to assess how accurate the predictions had been.
The prediction had been for the wave to peak on January 24, and it actually peaked only a day later, on the 25th. Furthermore, they estimated that between two million and four million people would be infected; the data shows that Israel saw over two million confirmed cases alone, which doesn't include many more assumed unconfirmed cases.
The predictions regarding the number of serious cases estimated that Israel would not see more than 1,200 serious cases. The estimate was not far off, since there were ultimately only three consecutive days with more than 1,200 cases, including the pandemic all-time high of 1,259 people in serious condition at one time in early February.
Explaining the way in which the predictions had been made – and the steps that were taken to make sure that the best possible scenario was the one that played out – Segal placed emphasis on the efforts that had been made to protect vulnerable populations. This included the introduction of paid sick leave for people in quarantine, adjustments to the testing system and the rollout of the fourth vaccine (the second booster) for high-risk groups.
“This wave had (and will continue to have) a very heavy price on the psyche, on the seriously ill, and it disrupted everyone’s daily routine,” he summarized in his tweet. “It is therefore impossible to talk about a pandemic in terms of success. The question that needs to be asked is whether different conduct would have led to a different result and if so, how would it have been different.
“I do not know what to say and I think any firm opinion on this matter is unfounded. What is clear, however, is that a great many helpful steps have been taken, so it is clear that it could have been much worse.”