Why Did Increase In COVID-19 Cases In Israel Not Lead To Increase In Serious Conditions?.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The dramatic increase in COVID-19 positive cases in Israel over the past two weeks has not been accompanied by a corresponding spike in seriously ill and intubated patients. Corona departments reopened in hospitals in the wake of the increase stand nearly empty as the number of patients in serious condition remains stable.

Experts pondered why this is the case. Is the second wave really less lethal or are there other factors which could explain the statistics? Firstly it should be noted that incoming health minister Yuli Edelstein declared that he would increase testing even to those without any symptoms of disease and would not confine it to areas with high infection but would test all around the country. The last few days saw a significant increase in tests and in cases. Professor Chezi Levi, the new director-general of the health ministry, explained on Channel N12 that the new tests include many younger people and the number of positive cases among them is larger. He says that despite the fact that there are more cases and less people coming to hospital “there is no proof that the virus has become friendlier and more amenable.”

Professor Galia Rahav, the director of the infectious diseases unit at Shiba hospital is still worried that there will be more serious patients in the near future: “I really hope that we will succeed in decreasing mortality, since we have some new treatments, but I cannot be complacent yet.”

There is however room for optimism. It appears that even though a specific treatment has yet to be found for COVID-19 and a vaccine is far away, treatments today are much improved in comparison to two months ago. “There is a lot of knowledge and personal experience with this virus which in March was totally foreign to the medical sector,” Dr. Karina Glick of Ashdod’s Asuta hospital explained.

Another factor which may help in dealing with the new spike in infections is that the medical establishment has internalized the need to protect the aged. The new director-general has raised the number of tests in geriatric facilities as well as protecting staff according to the same standards accepted by hospitals.