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Israel hits 1 million COVID cases, daily number of positive tests spikes

Some 6.6% of people tested for the virus were found to be positive – the highest ratio seen since February 2021.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Israel reached the dubious milestone of 1 million recorded cases of the coronavirus and a significant spike in the number of daily positive tests, the Health Ministry announced some 20 months after the virus reached Israel in February 2020.

Over 9,800 Israelis were found to be positive for the coronavirus on Monday, marking the highest number of recorded cases in a day since January 2021.

Some 6.6% of people tested for the virus were found to be positive – the highest ratio seen since February 2021. There are currently some 72,500 active cases currently in the Jewish State.

As the total number of coronavirus infections recorded in Israel stands at some 1,005,000, a large number of Israelis have not yet been vaccinated.

Out of around 1.1 million Israelis who are eligible to vaccinate but have not done so, 31% are from Arab backgrounds and another 16% are identified as Haredi.

With sky-high infection rates in both the Arab and Haredi communities recorded in the three previous waves of the virus, it is unknown how many of the Israeli citizens from those communities already possess antibodies due to previous exposure to the virus.

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Although Prime Minister Naftali Bennett charged that vaccine hesitant people are “endangering the entire population,” the vast majority of patients hospitalized with the coronavirus are double jabbed.

According to the Health Ministry, most of the patients in critical condition are Israelis over the age of 60 who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

A massive campaign to roll out third booster shots for the elderly appears to be holding back the tide of serious illness among seniors, with HMO Maccabi reporting that just a handful of triple jabbed people have become sick from the virus.

Israel’s total death toll stands at 6,864.

The Health Ministry reported that all but 7 of the 321 deaths attributed to the virus in August 2021 occurred among people over the age of 60.