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Just over 5% of COVID-19 tests came back positive on Sunday, according to figures from the Department of Health, marking the lowest test positivity rate since mid-August.
The figures indicate a possible decline in the current epidemic, despite the school system reopening earlier this month and the ongoing Jewish holidays, when millions of Israelis congregate in synagogues and visit families and friends.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 126,000 tests were carried out on Sunday, with 6,456 new cases of coronavirus diagnosed. There were 714 people classified in serious condition – against 650 Thursday – including 194 on ventilators.
Almost 70% of severe cases were among the unvaccinated, the data showed.
A health ministry report cited by the Ynet news site said 40% of new cases diagnosed on Sunday were among Israeli Arabs, who make up 20% of the population and whose vaccination rates are below the national average. Infections were also high among college students, with more than 3,766 cases – more than half of Sunday’s total – reported among school-aged children.
On Monday, more than 6 million Israelis received at least one dose of the vaccine and more than 3 million, or a third of the total population, received the third booster.
An Israeli woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a Clalit health services clinic in Jerusalem on September 9, 2021 (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)
Hospital heads warned on Sunday that they face a shortage of ECMO machines to treat some critical coronavirus patients, and that Israel’s health care system could be “on the path to utter failure” if more funds were not allocated immediately.
According to Hebrew media, heads of major Israeli hospitals made the comments during a meeting with senior health ministry officials to assess the pressures they are facing due to the ongoing fourth wave of coronavirus.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines do the work of a person’s heart and lungs to help them recover from severe respiratory disease. Unlike ventilators which only help breathing, they provide cardiac and respiratory support by oxygenating a patient’s blood outside the body and are only used for the most seriously ill.
Members of Shaare Zedek’s team wear safety gear while working in the coronavirus ward at Jerusalem Hospital, August 23, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
Speaking to Channel 12 News on Sunday evening, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said there were currently 37 patients on ECMO machines nationwide, the highest number seen during the wave current, but still far from the figures observed earlier this year.
Horowitz further said that of those 37 patients, 31 of them were not vaccinated and most were under the age of 60. He said the high percentage of unvaccinated patients on ventilators or ECMO machines was a clear sign of the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Hospitals, however, have reported a total of 51 patients currently on ECMO machines, Channel 12 noted.
Hospital heads also said they were running out of intensive care beds, Channel 12 reported.
“There is a manpower problem,” Nachman Ash, director of the ministry, quoted by military radio.
Over the weekend, Israel passed more than 7,500 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. According to the latest figures, 7,541 Israelis with COVID have died since March 2020, and more than 1,000 have died in the past six weeks alone.
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