Israel Surpasses 700 New COVID Cases for 3rd Consecutive Day

Israel on Thursday is reporting a third consecutive day with new cases of COVID-19 exceeding the 700 mark. Of the 765 cases detected, 71 were identified by testing conducted on patients who were arriving in Israel through Ben-Gurion International Airport, the nation’s primary gateway. The number of seriously ill patients has also risen. The head of the National Security Council’s advisory team on the pandemic warned that Israel is on track to see “hundreds of seriously ill patients” within seven to eight weeks. Professor Eli Waxman of the Weizmann Institute is advocating for the return of the “green pass,” the document that recorded each citizen’s vaccination history, and is presented in a number of situations to prove the carrier is properly vaccinated. Waxman said allowing the unvaccinated to run around freely creates risk. A new scandal broke out when the Health Ministry’s public health chief was accused of skewing COVID-19 data in favor of requiring more stringent methods of fighting the pandemic. The delta variant that originated in India is proving to be the greatest obstacle in fighting the pandemic, although Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday it could be defeated in five weeks.