Serious Covid Cases on the Way Down

The current downward trend in serious coronavirus cases is expected to continue, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science are saying, according to Haaretz on Tuesday.

Prof. Eran Segal, a computational biologist at the Weizmann Institute and an adviser to the coronavirus cabinet, was quoted as saying that if at the current rate, the number serious cases should be down between 250-350 by the end of October.

Currently, the Health Ministry says that serious cases have fallen to 489, the lowest since mid-August.

Segal attributes the improved picture to a drop in the R-number — the number of new cases stemming from each coronavirus infection — to the rollout of booster shots and the inoculation of more people who weren’t previously vaccinated.

Segal also suggested that the number of people who have recovered from COVID could be as high as double the official figure of 1,252,077, putting Israel much closer to herd immunity.

As of midnight Tuesday, another 1,678 coronavirus cases were confirmed, with active infections standing at 36,037.

There have been 1,296,125 verified infections since the pandemic began and 7,853 deaths.

According to the Health Ministry, 6,153,823 people in Israel have received at least one vaccine dose and 5,662,909 have gotten two shots. Another 3,606,065 have been administered a third dose.