Spike in Ventilated COVID Patients in Israel

Israel on Monday saw a worrying increase in the number of ventilated coronavirus patients, health officials said.

The Health Ministry said that 2,114 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, out of more than 72,000 tests that had been carried out, with 2.95% returning positive.

The ministry said 212 patients are hospitalized in serious condition, 42 of whom are connected to ventilators, an increase of five over 24 hours.

At least 201 of the newly diagnosed, approximately 10%, arrived from abroad. Some 73 people arrived from Turkey, 34 from Greece, 12 from the United States, 11 from Bulgaria and 10 from Georgia.

In addition, a small number of verified coronavirus patients returned from Cyprus, the U.K., Uzbekistan, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Thailand, Finland, the Netherlands, Croatia, Romania, Italy, France and Egypt.

With the surge of new cases, the number of local authorities defined as “red,” indicating a high coronavirus infection rate, continues to increase.

As of Monday, 13 local authorities are categorized as red. Among the communities are: Afula, Sachnin, Charish, Kisra-Samia, Bat Chefer, Beit She’an, Kiryat Motzkin, Netivot, Bat Yam, Kfar Bara, Chatzor Haglilit, Or Akiva and Kfar Yona.

Some 45,000 Israelis over 60 or immunocompromised have already received the third coronavirus vaccine, the Health Ministry announced on Monday.