By Bond Robertson 
On Wednesday, Israel recorded the largest number of daily infections with the Corona virus since the outbreak of the epidemic.
According to the country’s health authorities, 11,978 new cases of infection were reported in the last 24 hours.
On Monday, 10,644 cases of infection were recorded, writes Ha’aretz – which is a 360 percent increase over the previous week.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has warned that the daily infection rate could rise to around 50,000 due to the omicron variant, NTB writes.
Consider closing – again
Opens
The country recently changed its tactics in dealing with the virus. Israel closed its borders For all foreign tourists on November 28.
On Monday this week, the government said that protected visitors who do not come from so-called high-risk countries, will still be able to access the country from January 9.
The prerequisite is for visitors to take a PCR test before and after arrival, and to self-quarantine for 24 hours.
Fourth dose: A resident of a nursing home in the coastal city of Netanya received a fourth dose of the vaccine against the coronavirus on Wednesday. Photo: Jacques Guise/AFP/NTB
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Fourth dose
On the same day, Israel, as one of the first countries in the world, began providing a fourth dose of the vaccine to anyone over the age of 60, in addition to health professionals.
Before, a fourth dose was offered to people with weakened immune systems, according to the NTB.
According to Haaretz, the Director-General of the Israeli Ministry of Health, Nachman Ash, is concerned that this second booster dose will not come fast enough, because he fears the omicron variant will spread faster than the booster vaccination.
On Israel’s Channel 13, poet Al-Roy Baris, of the Ministry of Health, stated earlier this week:
– There is no omicron wave control.
Infection: According to the Jerusalem Post, nearly 27,000 cases of infection were detected in Israel last week, three times the previous week. Photo Credit: Debbie Hill / UPI / Shutterstock / NTB
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Open for home tests
On Wednesday, Israel’s Ministry of Health announced new changes to its testing policy. The reason for the change is the sharp increase in the number of infections – and the subsequent demand for testing, reports Ha’aretz.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced that from Friday, healthy Israelis under the age of 60 who have been in contact with infected people can take a home test to avoid isolation.
The aim is to avoid long queues at testing stations, as well as unnecessary quarantine.
He also urged all residents to get vaccinated.
According to the new guidelines, the ministry will maintain PCR tests for people 60 years of age or older, as well as for risk groups..
Haaretz says these groups will not only be defined by age and vaccination status, according to sources in the health system, but will likely include people with conditions such as diabetes, obesity and lung disease.
It will shorten the interval
As early as the end of December, the country decided to cut the time between the second and third doses of the Corona vaccine from five to three months. This was justified by the increased incidence of the omicron variant.
The country’s Ministry of Health also announced that this will apply regardless of the vaccine being taken. However, it is recommended that the third dose be the same vaccine that was vaccinated the first and second time if possible.
The effect decreases after 90 days
Dim hex
Health Director Nachmann Ash said earlier this week that the spread of oomicron may be what will lead to herd immunity in the country.
– But we do not want to achieve herd immunity as a result of infection, rather we want it to happen as a result of vaccinating enough people, he says.
A leading Israeli expert believes that up to four million Israelis may contract covid-19 in January, NTB writes.
Eran Segal writes: “At the national level, mass contagion is inevitable” Twitter.
Segal is a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science and is considered one of Israel’s most prominent experts in the field of the Corona virus. Segal’s prediction is that 2 to 4 million Israelis – 20 to 40 percent of the country’s population – will be infected in just three to four weeks.
“The current restrictions are too weak in light of such a contagious virus,” he says.
according to Jerusalem Post Nearly 27,000 cases of infection were detected in Israel last week, triple the previous week.