Israel may need to enter a fourth lockdown ahead of the March 23 election, coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash said in an interview with Radio 103FM on Wednesday morning on the background of a worrying rise in Israel’s basic reproduction number [how many people each carrier infects]. “We’ll have to see the data in the next couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s definitely a possibility that we will recommend a fourth lockdown before the election.” Israel has begun reopening its economy, with further restrictions scheduled to be lifted on Sunday. And while the infection rate and the number of seriously ill virus patients on Wednesday were the lowest since December, the basic reproduction or R number has increased to 1.

Israel’s Health Ministry stated on Tuesday that it has discovered three cases of the New York coronavirus variant in Israel. Health Ministry officials believe that the three carriers, members of the same family, were in contact with someone who recently returned to Israel from New York. The family members, who live in Jerusalem, are reportedly not cooperating with the Health Ministry’s epidemiological investigators, but according to information officials received from a third party, it’s possible that others were infected as well and the variant is already silently spreading in Israel.

About 88% of Israelis over the age of 50 have either been vaccinated against the coronavirus or have recovered from the virus, according to Health Ministry data published on Wednesday. A total of 4.8 million Israelis, 52% of the population, have been vaccinated with one vaccine dose, and 3.5 million Israelis have received both doses. Israel’s Arab sector has the lowest vaccination rate, with only 67% of those over 50 vaccinated and 31% of those of all ages. At the same time, the reproduction number in the sector is currently the highest in the country, standing at 1.17. The reproduction number in the Chareidi sector is currently 0.82, significantly lower than that of the general population, which is currently at 1. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain is prevalent among Italy’s infected schoolchildren and is helping to fuel a “robust” uptick in the curve of COVID-19 contagion in the country, the health minister said Tuesday. Roberto Speranza told reporters that the variant, associated with higher transmission rates, has shown pervasiveness “among the youngest age group” of the population. In recent weeks, Italy’s incidence of new cases among young people has now eclipsed incidence among the older population, a reversal of how COVID-19 afflicted residents in the first months of the pandemic. Italy, a nation of 60 million people where COVID-19 first erupted in the West in February 2020, has registered nearly 3 million confirmed cases.

Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the head of the Health Ministry’s Public Health division, warned government ministers on Monday of the worrying increase of coronavirus cases in children under the age of nine, Ynet reported on Tuesday. Dr. Preis presented a graph showing an increase in the number of cases in children under nine versus other age groups, in which cases decreased or at least remained steady. There has been a sharp increase in the infection rate in children under nine from January until February. According to Health Ministry data, 11.2% of virus cases were found in children under the age of nine – or 1 our of 9 cases – at the end of January. In February, 19.7% of cases were found in children under the age of nine – or 1 out of 5 cases.

Israel will experience a surge in virus infections this month as the economy is reopened but will likely see less serious cases, according to Prof. Eran Segal, who developed Weizmann Institute’s prediction model for the spread of COVID in Israel. “Already in January, we said that March will see a rise in infections, but due to the vaccines, we will see less serious patients,” Segal told Ynet. Segal noted that a report by the Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center that stated that the vaccines are 88% effective in decreasing the virus spread was based on data recorded while mask-wearing and social distancing are mandated by the government. “If we will see any serious change in the public’s adherence to restrictions, we risk losing this effectiveness,” he warned.

The plane laden with vaccines had just rolled to a stop at Santiago’s airport in late January, and Chile’s president, Sebastián Piñera, was beaming. “Today,” he said, “is a day of joy, emotion and hope.” The source of that hope: China – a country that Chile and dozens of other nations are depending on to help rescue them from the COVID-19 pandemic. China’s vaccine diplomacy campaign has been a surprising success: It has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to more than 45 countries, according to a country-by-country tally by The Associated Press.

Israel’s Health Ministry informed the Kupot Cholim on Monday that they can begin vaccinating recovered coronavirus patients on Tuesday. Recovered virus patients over the age of 16 are eligible to be vaccinated three months after recovery. They will be vaccinated with a single vaccine dose rather than two doses. According to Health Ministry data, over 323,000 Israelis recovered from the coronavirus at least three months ago. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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A senior World Health Organization official said Monday it was “premature” and “unrealistic” to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year, but that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalizations and death. The world’s singular focus right now should be to keep transmission of COVID-19 as low as possible, said Dr. Michael Ryan, director of WHO’s emergencies program. “If we’re smart, we can finish with the hospitalizations and the deaths and the tragedy associated with this pandemic” by the end of the year, he said at media briefing. Ryan said WHO was reassured by emerging data that many of the licensed vaccines appear to be helping curb the virus’ explosive spread.

Canada’s largest city has started vaccinating police officers ahead of people 80 years of age and older. A Toronto police spokesperson said Monday police constables and sergeants who respond to emergency calls where medical assistance may be required have been moved to the current phase by Ontario’s provincial government. A police spokesperson said 2,250 of Toronto’s nearly 5,000 officers are eligible. The Ontario provincial government has said those 80 and above will start getting vaccinated in the third week of March, but some regions of the province have already started vaccinating those residents while the province sets up a website to make appointments.