The Yahrzeit of COVID | The Jewish Press - JewishPress com | Harry Maryles | 17 Adar 5781 – February 28, 2021 jewishpress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jewishpress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Despite an extensive vaccination campaign, coronavirus cases in Israel remain high and show little sign of decreasing. Israel is in the midst of a third nationwide lockdown, and has halted inbound and outbound flights and closed down its overland border crossings. 5,001 Israelis have died so far of the virus.
Meanwhile, Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip await vaccines, though it may take at least a few more months for their campaigns to reach enough members of the population. 1,516 people have died so far in the West Bank, while 526 have died in Gaza.
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Shaare Zedek hospital team members wearing safety gear as they work in the coronavirus ward on January 27 (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
1. Back on the up and up: Four weeks into Israel’s third lockdown, not only is the infection rate not going down, there are signs it may be going up.
The Ynet news site reports that the R0, or reproductive value, of the coronavirus pathogen is inching up toward 1, the number at which infection numbers rise again, and has reached it already if you count only non-Haredi Jews. (Haredi Jews actually have the lowest R0, more on that below.)
Two-thirds of London s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community had Covid last year - nine times the national average and around 0.3 per cent of those infected died, a study has shown.
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found the rate of past infection was at 64 per cent in the community of around 15,000 people.
This compares to rates of 11 per cent in London more generally and just seven per cent across the UK, according to estimates by the Office for National Statistics.
Suspected infections in the community peaked in early March, just before the first lockdown, when rates then began to fall sharply, before rising again in the autumn once restrictions were lifted.
Israel marks grim milestone of 5,000 deaths ■ Netanyahu warns of 'massive and rapid spread' of British coronavirus variant ■ Palestinians start vaccination campaign ■ Israel expected to sign tourism pact