Health Ministry: Four Children Hospitalized in Critical Condition With Coronavirus

According to Health Ministry data released Thursday, four children are hospitalized in critical condition with the coronavirus, as are six women who are either expectant or have just given birth. They are all intubated.

In total, 38 babies under the age of one are hospitalized, one of which is in serious condition. There are 48 expectant women hospitalized, six of whom are in serious condition.

In addition, the country’s reproduction rate, which according to a report by the military task force on the coronavirus has been on the rise for four straight days, now stands at 0.93.

For the first time, the California variant of the virus has been identified in Israel, with seven new cases found to be of the mutation. Another 444 individuals have been found to be carrying the South African variant.

According to the Health Ministry, 3,209,993 people have received both doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, while 4,598,197 have received the first dose.

Meanwhile, researchers at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Health Care Campus and Ziv Medical Center in Tzfas have initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial of a promising new treatment for COVID-19.

These trials are testing TXA27, a compound developed by Boston-based biopharmaceutical company Constant Therapeutics “We are examining the use of a drug based on a naturally occurring peptide called Angiotensin that prevents cell proliferation and inflammation in the lungs,” said Professor Karl Skorecki, dean of Bar-Ilan University in the Galilee’s Azrieli School of Medicine.

Professor Skorecki estimates that the Israeli trial will be completed within four months. Coronavirus mutations would not affect the effectiveness of treatment, according to Dr. Etty Kruzel-Davila, a senior nephrologist at Rambam Health Care Campus, who is leading the trial.