COVID Infections Continue to Drop as Israel’s Death Toll Nears 6,000

Under 3,000 Israelis were reported to have been infected with the coronavirus over the weekend, continuing the downward trend seen in recent weeks, with 613 patients listed in serious condition, down from 675 the day before. The positivity test rate was at 2.9%.

In addition, the Military Intelligence Directorate reported on Friday that the current R rate in Israel – the rate which measures the ability of the disease to spread, indicating how many other people each person carrying the virus will infect – is at 0.83.

There were 2,386 coronavirus cases diagnoses on Friday out of 84,286 tests that were conducted, according to the Health Ministry’s Motzoei Shabbos report. Another 409 people tested positive from midnight on Friday night, bringing the total number to 2,795.

The death toll currently stands at 5,988.

The Health Ministry also reported that some 91% of those hospitalized in coronavirus wards were not vaccinated against the virus.

On the other hand, 5,125,054 Israelis have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 4,120,276 have received their second dose.

Some 100,000 Israelis have only received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine but did not show up for the second dose, Channel 12 reported, representing around 2% of the population.

The Health Ministry reported that some of these people may have suffered from side effects from the first vaccine, and were scared to return for the second dose.