Israel: Purim with No Restrictions? 'Little To No COVID Morbidity Expected In Israel By Next Month'

By YNET News
Posted on 02/15/22 | News Source: YNET News

Weizmann Institute's Prof. Eran Segal says this year's holiday of Purim on March 16 may be staged without restrictions for first time since start of pandemic, adds lockdown during Omicron wave would not have been successful

A senior advisor to the government on the coronavirus pandemic said on Tuesday that he believes there will little to none COVID morbidity Israel by next month. Prof. Eran Segal from the Weizmann Institute of Science, who has developed a coronavirus prediction model that is used by the coronavirus cabinet, told Ynet that although some Israelis may still become ill with the virus, their number will be much lower than recently observed.

He added that the festival of Purim, celebrated this year on March 16, may be staged without any restrictions for the first time since the start of the pandemic. 

"We've been experiencing a drop, in infections of some 20% in the past three weeks, followed by a reduction in serious illness which has seen a 30% drop," Segal said. "I expect that trend to continue along with fewer daily new cases of COVID-19. The graphs are showing a rapid decline," he said, adding that hospitals will also see fewer patients.

"We don't expect to see zero infections, but we know that many more people are now protected and that serious symptoms are rare. We saw this in other countries and unless there are unexpected surprises, we will have only a few thousands of infections confirmed daily," he said.