Posted on 01/10/22
| News Source: i24
'This is a storm that is sweeping the world,' prime minister says of the omicron variant
Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday warned that up to four million citizens could become infected with the coronavirus during the fifth wave fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.
"Information presented at the cabinet meeting indicates that here in Israel, a total of 2-4 million citizens will be infected in the current wave," the premier posted to his Facebook account.
"This is a storm that is sweeping the world, including countries that have taken a general blockade," Bennett wrote.
Israel's Health Ministry on Sunday registered 17,518 new cases with a positive test rate of 11.71 percent out of 159,459 total tests administered.
The number of serious cases rose to 204, with 68 patients in critical condition and 53 on ventilators.
The latest reproduction rate, or R value — a snapshot of the weekly average from 10 days ago — stood at 1.97, indicating that the virus is spreading as one person who contracts the disease passes it on to almost two more people.