The age group with the highest number of new coronavirus cases continues to be children ages 5-11, Israel's Health Ministry reported Friday morning.
Among children of that age group, all 2,122 active COVID-19 cases are among unvaccinated individuals, and one child is in serious condition.
Among children ages 12-15, 352 unvaccinated individuals currently have COVID-19, versus 133 vaccinated individuals.
When it comes to older teenagers, ages 16-19, 132 unvaccinated teens have coronavirus, and one of them is in serious condition. Thirty-two teens who had their second dose over six months ago and have not yet had their third dose have also tested positive for the virus, as have 69 fully-vaccinated individuals.
Across all age groups, unvaccinated individuals are more likely than vaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals to suffer a serious case of the virus.
The Health Ministry also said that 838 new cases of coronavirus were diagnosed Thursday, bringing the total number of active cases to 6,542. Of those, 125 patients are hospitalized, including 79 whose condition is serious or worse.
Among those in serious condition are 55 whose condition is critical, 42 who are intubated, and 14 who are hooked up to ECMO (heart and lung) machines.
Of those coronavirus test results received Thursday, 0.89% were positive, indicating continued rise: Wednesday saw 0.82% positive tests, and Tuesday 0.71%. Sunday's positivity rate was the lowest this week, at 0.56% - but this was higher than the previous lowest this month, on December 3, when the positivity rate was 0.54%.
Among those who tested positive on Thursday were 180 who recently arrived from abroad, representing 21.5% of the new cases. Of those, 45 returned from the US, 29 from Britain, 26 from France, 21 from the United Arab Emirates, and two from South Africa.
Since the start of the pandemic, 8,230 people have died in Israel of coronavirus.