Coronavirus in Israel: more than 6,000 killed since the start of the pandemic

The number of deaths in Israel from the coronavirus exceeded 6,000 on Sunday, but Health Minister Yuli Edelstein promised that, in light of the “vaccination miracle”, there will be no more restrictions at Easter.

The bad news that 6,008 people died came along with the good news that the infection rate in Israel continues to decline. The ministry also announced that, starting next week, a rapid test system will allow those who have not been vaccinated or recovered to obtain a temporary green passport.

According to current regulations, access to various locations, including cultural and sporting events, closed gyms and restaurants, is limited to those who received their second vaccine vaccine at least a week before or who recovered from the virus.

Therefore, children under 16 were effectively excluded from these services.

Thanks to the rapid test system, this will change from next Sunday.

Bars and clubs may also reopen with the green outline of the passport.

According to the statement, companies will be able to request rapid test kits from approved companies, while ministries of health and finance will monitor price levels.

Also on Sunday, the government discussed airport regulations while the Supreme Court of Justice was preparing to hear a petition demanding that authorities allow all Israelis who wished to vote to return before the March 23 election.

The cabinet decided to expand the list of flight destinations to allow more citizens to return from abroad before the election. This will include Madrid, Amsterdam, Addis Ababa and Larnaca.

Health officials, however, opposed a proposal to increase the number of returnees daily.

While Transport Minister Miri Regev said she was ready to raise the limit from the current 3,000 to 4,000, Edelstein replied that the only thing that could harm Israel’s results so far could be variants coming from abroad. Therefore, “we must not exceed the limit of 3,000,” he said.

ASKED WHEN Israeli families can expect to travel abroad again without the need for those who have not been vaccinated for quarantine when they return, Ash said during the briefing that there is still a long way to go, due to varying fears.

Early in the morning, the health minister said the election was the only reason for the airport to reopen, explaining that the ministry was opposed to the move.

In an interview with Rádio 103 FM, which is part of The Jerusalem Post Group, Edelstein expressed optimism.

“It is the first time that we have been positively surprised by the corona, and that is a good thing,” he said.

Israel has the highest vaccination rate in the world. More than 4.1 million, or 40% of the population, received both vaccines and about 5.1 million people, more than half, received at least one vaccine.

Ash also said that, given the current figures, Israelis could reasonably celebrate Easter together. But he does not expect the limit of 20 people inside the house to be increased.

Also on Sunday, the R index, which measures the disease’s ability to spread, fell below 0.8, a level that indicates that the pandemic is receding. The rate has been decreasing for several days and stood at 0.78.

About 773 new cases of the new coronavirus were reported on Saturday, with 2.9% of the tests returning positive, according to an update from the Ministry of Health.

While on Saturday, the number of tests performed is consistently much lower than on weekdays – about 27,000 compared to about 90,000 in previous days – Israel has not registered a day with less than 1,000 new cases since November. The percentage of tests with a positive result was similar to that of the previous days, when there were between 2,000 and 3,000 new cases.

Of those infected, 640 patients are in serious condition, including 191 on ventilators, in line with previous days. At the peak of the third wave, in mid-January, about 1,200 patients were in serious condition.