Over 2,000 New COVID Cases Third Day Running; Over 150 in Serious Condition

There were 2,165 new coronavirus cases in Israel on Wednesday, the Health Ministry announced Thursday morning.

The Health Ministry dashboard reported that 2.35% of the tests conducted in the previous day returned a positive result.

As of Thursday morning, 159 of the current patients are in serious condition, with 26 intubated.

These figures account for a third day of a steep rise in cases, bringing the weekly average of new cases to approximately 1,500 positive tests a day, three times the amount seen two weeks ago, with an average of 500 new daily cases.

Israel’s death toll has gone up to 6,463 after three patients passed away on Wednesday.

In the wake of the continued surge in new cases, the Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center – the IDF unit tasked with dealing with the pandemic – warned if no drastic measures are taken soon, the number of severe cases will “skyrocket.”

“The number of patients in critical condition clearly and objectively describes the spread of the pandemic in the country, regardless of the scope of testing. The infection rate is still high and reflects a doubling of the number of patients approximately every 7-10 days,” said the center in a statement.

“Without further action and [continued] widespread vaccination of the public, the number of verified cases and the number of patients in severe condition is expected to skyrocket, in a way that could lead to overload within weeks – both in health funds and in hospitals.”

In the meantime, the ministry reported Wednesday a decrease in the number of people who received their first vaccine shot after several days of gradual increase. On Wednesday 3,491 Israelis received their first jab, compared to 4,342 on Sunday, 5,030 on Monday and 5,318 on Tuesday.

Almost 79% of the population over the age of 10 are fully vaccinated in Israel.