Israel has already passed the peak of the fifth wave of the coronavirus, a Hebrew University researcher said Sunday, though the number of deaths per day will continue to rise for the next few weeks.
Prof. Doron Gazit, a member of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem’s SARS-CoV-2 research team, told Radio 103FM Sunday that Israel has already reached and even passed the peak of the ‘Omicron’ wave of the coronavirus pandemic – at least in terms of new daily infections, with some 53,000 new cases diagnosed Saturday, and over 1,000 hospitalized patients infected with COVID currently listed in serious condition.
But Gazit added that due to the lag between infections and hospitalizations and deaths, the number of new COVID-related fatalities per day will likely continue to increase, likely reaching dozens of new deaths per day this coming week.
“We are definitely at the peak, but during this coming week we will see dozens of fatalities per day.”
Gazi chastised the government’s handling of the Omicron wave, accusing the government of ‘tolerating’ deaths.
“We could have done more and we should have done more. If you want me to get specific about state policies, the state definitely is tolerating the deaths. I think that during this wave, as opposed to previous waves, we will see excess deaths. Though that is the last measure that comes up in this wave of illness, and that is a good sign.”