Omicron infections expected to drop by end of week

Coming days still critical, expert warns • New olim to get free antigen tests

israel has reached the peak of the omicron wave and will start to see a decrease in daily infections in the coming week, prof. eran segal of the weizmann institute in rehovot said in an interview with n12 news on saturday evening.

asked if he could estimate exactly when the current wave will be over, segal said that while it is difficult to give an exact time frame, in another two or three weeks the number of daily infections will be reduced to such an extent that the wave can be considered to have ended.

But the coming days are still critical, he cautioned, as israel is experiencing the peak of infections and people must continue to remain cautious.

“during the next week we will see a decrease in the number of daily cases and by next weekend the number is expected to be between 40,000 and 50,000 a day,” he explained.

“in terms of severe morbidity, an increase is still expected and we may reach between 8001,000 severe cases.”

similar data have been reported elsewhere in the world, with reuters reporting on Friday evening that new cases were falling in parts of the united states hit hardest by the fast-spreading variant.

a total of 69,104 covid-19 cases were recorded in israel on thursday, the health ministry

reported on Friday morning, with 638 people in serious condition, 123 of whom are on ventilators.

of those currently hospitalized in serious condition, 84% are over the age of 60, and 1% are between the ages of 0-4. the rest of the serious hospitalized patients are between the ages of 19 and 59.

there are currently 453,505 active coronavirus cases in israel, 452,692 of which (99.8%) are classified as mild. a total of 219,646 people are currently self-isolating.

as of Friday, 55% of serious cases were in patients who had received three vaccines, and 24% had not been vaccinated at all.

the aliyah and integration ministry has purchased 15,000 antigen tests that will be handed out free of charge to new

immigrants across israel, the ministry announced on saturday evening.

the tests will be distributed as part of the ministry’s new “anything to make you feel well” campaign, which takes its name from the ministry’s own “anything to make you feel at home” slogan.

additionally, in the coming days, the ministry will launch a campaign in five languages – russian, amharic, French, spanish and english – in order to encourage immunization against covid-19 in immigrant communities. the campaign will also provide psychological assistance in those languages to people struggling with the ongoing pandemic, it stated.

an estimated 13,000 elderly immigrants have already

And we are not going to tolerate this antisemitism.”

Liz Sherwood-Randall, the assistant to President Joe Biden for homeland security, said the investigation was continuing and would seek answers to how the attacker, a British Muslim, entered the country even though he had been subject to scrutiny by British authorities.

“Here, on the national security team, we continue to pursue what happened,” she said. “How did this hostage-taker get into the United States? What are his connections to others, and especially anyone else who might still pose a threat that includes working closely with our British allies with whom we have a long history of extensive counterterrorism cooperation?”

Sherwood-Randall said the attack should not inhibit Shabbat worship.

“I have to acknowledge that whatever we’re doing, people are experiencing anxiety and fear – and especially as you approach Shabbat again, and go into the synagogue,” she said.

“We know we will not allow them, these terrorists, to change our ways of life. We know that we will continue to exercise those freedoms. And you can be reassured that we’ll continue to do everything we can to enable Americans to practice their faith safely, to be able to be with their congregations in peace, and to prevent those who wish to do us harm from being able to do so.”

Weissman said he would attend synagogue this weekend.

“And you know where I’m going to be this weekend. I’m going to be in shul,” he said. “I’m going to continue to live my life fully as a Jewish American and as an American Jew.”

Sanborn said preparing for such attacks was critical, noting that Cytron-Walker had credited security training from local police, the Anti-Defamation League, the FBI and Secure Community Network, which consults with Jewish groups, for getting him through the crisis.

“Prepare, engage and train,” she said. “Saturday’s hostages demonstrated incredible bravery amid events that most civilians never ever imagined encountering. But Rabbi Charlie’s recent statements crediting the security training he and his congregation received underscore the critical importance of continuing the work we are doing together to ensure we are best positioned to counter the threat that we face, and that you not only feel safe, but are safe in your synagogues.”

She said it has been harder to predict such attacks.

“In recent years, we have seen a transition mostly to lone actors or small cells who [became] radicalized online [and] use easily accessible weapons to operate attacks on targets, just as we saw last weekend,” she said.

“Many of these individuals are inspired by a personal and individualized blend of beliefs and grievances. And we’re finding that, more and more, the ideologies that are motivating these violent extremists are less coherent, less linear and harder to pin down.”

In concluding remarks, Cytron-Walker appealed for less toxicity in the political environment, an allusion to debates over the sources of antisemitism and synagogue security that have roiled the national Jewish community since the attacks.

“I’m also, so you know, a little bit sad that it takes something like this in our world to

bring people together,” he said. “If we can do a better job to remember that, as I would put it, we’re all created in God’s image, we’re all created in tzelem Elohim, if we could all do a little bit more to maybe tone down the rhetoric and politics and all of the talk shows that exist, to remember that we can debate ideas.

“We don’t have to agree. We also don’t have to attack one another personally in order to get our point across.” •