Israel: Cases Continue To Rise While Hospitalizations/Deaths Continue Decrease

Rising cases, empty wards: Israel’s COVID situation explained in six graphs

Nathan Jeffay

As the government and some of its medical advisers voice deep concern,and some other experts suggest that they are overreacting, we take a closer look at some of the graphs that shape the discussion.

Below is what the climb in cases has looked like, with daily averages in blue and a seven-day average, which gives a more accurate picture of trends, marked in red.

The number of new daily infections by date (which is marked on the horizontal axis). The daily statistics are in blue, and the red line shows a seven-day moving average (Israel Ministry of Health)

The daily average of new cases over the last week is double that of the 

But hospitalizations aren’t rising. In fact, the number of COVID-19 patients currently in hospital, 123, is lower than at any point since the fourth wave of infections. 

The number of serious cases stands at 81, compared to nearly 700 in late September.

The following graph, with serious cases at the bottom, moderate cases in the middle, and light cases on top, shows the fall in hospitalizations.

The number of hospitalized coronavirus patients (vertical axis) in Israel by date (horizontal axis), up to December 22, 2021. (Israel Ministry of Health)

And Israel isn’t seeing a rise in mortality, as the following graph shows, with the number of deaths on the vertical axis and dates on the horizontal axis.

The number of COVID-19 deaths (vertical axis) in Israel by date (horizontal axis) up to December 22, 2021 (Israel Ministry of Health)

We know that vaccines are less effective against Omicron than other variants, but the finer details are still emerging.

Supporting the optimists is data suggesting that Omicron patients are far less likely to deteriorate compared to those infected by other variants. They are between 50 and 70 percent less likely to need hospitalization than those with the Delta strain, Britain’s public health agency said Thursday.

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