Israeli health officials reported on Tuesday that the number of COVID fatalities in the country has soared, with up to 40 fatalities a day, 40 times the number of daily fatalities just two weeks ago. In the city of Rechovot, 13 residents passed away of COVID just on Monday. According to a Yisrael Hayom report, the local Chevra Kadisha had to recruit additional workers for the 25 levayos that took place that day, 12 of whom passed away from non-COVID related causes. The director of the COVID ward at Kaplan Medical Center in Rechovot said: “This is a sad day in the ward. It’s extremely difficult to endure the grief of the families even when the patients were in such severe condition. Even after two years, we haven’t acclimated to these sights.” Prof.

Scientists and health officials around the world are keeping their eyes on a descendant of the omicron variant that has been found in at least 40 countries, including the United States. This version of the coronavirus, which scientists call BA.2, is widely considered stealthier than the original version of omicron because particular genetic traits make it somewhat harder to detect. Some scientists worry it could also be more contagious. But they say there’s a lot they still don’t know about it, including whether it evades vaccines better or causes more severe disease. WHERE HAS IT SPREAD? Since mid-November, more than three dozen countries have uploaded nearly 15,000 genetic sequences of BA.2 to GISAID, a global platform for sharing coronavirus data.

Israel expects to soon break its own record of its number of seriously ill COVID cases, Channel 12 News reported on Tuesday evening, based on Health Ministry sources. The number of seriously ill cases has soared by eight times in less than a month, from 101 at the beginning of the month to 905 as of Wednesday afternoon, including 245 critically ill patients of whom 189 are ventilated. It’s the highest number since February of last year during Israel’s third wave, when the number of seriously ill patients reached 1,200. Hospital directors have warned Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Nachman Ash that the increasing overload in coronavirus wards is straining their capability to provide a reasonable level of care.

Amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, a rise in pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS) is being seen in children who recover from COVID in Israel and around the world. The condition appears about 30-45 days after recovery from COVID. Israeli senior health officials urged the government to cancel the plan to revoke quarantine for students exposed to COVID, which is scheduled to go into effect on Thursday. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held talks on Wednesday about delaying the plan by a week but ultimately decided to go ahead with the plan despite the health officials’ opposition. Israel’s Teachers’ Union had also requested that the implementation of the plan be delayed.

The number of seriously ill COVID cases in Israel has skyrocketed within a few short weeks from about 100 to over 800 and tens of thousands of new cases are being confirmed on a daily basis. The rise in seriously ill patients, along with the fact that about 10,000 medical staffers are in quarantine, is seriously straining Israel’s hospitals, with several hospitals on Sunday warning that they are at the brink of collapse. The Kaplan Medical Center in Rechovot was forced to block ambulances from bringing patients to its emergency room due to the overload of patients and lack of staff, Ynet reported. And even when it can accept COVID patients, the wait for an empty bed has become interminable.

California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent under a proposal introduced Friday by a state senator who said youngsters “deserve the right to protect themselves” against infectious disease. Currently in California, minors ages 12 to 17 cannot be vaccinated without permission from their parents or guardians, unless the vaccine is specifically to prevent a sexually transmitted disease. Parental consent laws for vaccinations vary by state and region, and a few places such as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., allow kids 11 and up, and in San Francisco 12 and older, to consent to their own COVID-19 vaccines. The bill by Democratic Sen.

Israel’s vaccination campaign saved the lives of at least 20,000 Israelis, Yisrael Hayom reported on Sunday based on data analyzed by former Health Ministry deputy director Prof. Itamar Grotto. According to the report, without its vaccination campaign, Israel’s COVID fatalities would have reached as high as 30,000 instead of its current death toll of 8,371. Grotto’s estimate is actually a cautious one as it applies only to Israelis aged 60 and over, with Grotto estimating that vaccines have also saved the lives of thousands of Israelis under the age of 60. The data also shows that unvaccinated Israelis are eight times as likely to die from COVID as vaccinated Israelis.

Two more Roshei Yeshivos in Israel tested positive for COVID on Friday, Rosh Yeshivas Ateres Yisrael, HaGaon HaRav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi, and Rosh Yeshivas Kisei Rachamim HaGaon HaRav Meir Mazuz. It is the second time that HaRav Ezrachi has COVID. The 93-year-old Rosh Yeshivah contracted COVID for the first time in October 2020 and b’chasdei Hashem recovered without any ill effects. HaRav Ezrachi was scheduled to embark on a historic chizzuk trip to the US on Motzei Shabbos. A statement from HaRav Ezrachi’s household said: “The Rosh Yeshivah was found positive for COVID on Friday. He’s at home and feeling well b’chasdei Shamayim.

When the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, Spaniards were ordered to stay home for more than three months. For weeks, they were not allowed outside even for exercise. Children were banned from playgrounds, and the economy virtually stopped. But officials credited the draconian measures with preventing a full collapse of the health system. Lives were saved, they argued. Now, almost two years later, Spain is preparing to adopt a different COVID-19 playbook. With one of Europe’s highest vaccination rates and its most pandemic-battered economies, the government is laying the groundwork to treat the next infection surge not as an emergency but an illness that is here to stay. Similar steps are under consideration in neighboring Portugal and in Britain.

Israeli senior government officials have reached a decision to end mandatory quarantine for students exposed to COVID, Israeli media reported on Thursday evening. Students who are exposed to COVID and are asymptomatic will no longer be required to isolate. Instead, all students will be required to be tested for COVID at home twice a week, Sunday and Wednesday mornings before school, and students who are positive or are symptomatic will be required to quarantine at home. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, and Education Minister Yifat Sasha-Biton announced the new policy at a press conference on Thursday night.