The Health Ministry reveals that 170 new cases of the Omicron COVID strain have been confirmed in Israel, bringing the total number of such cases to 341 and doubling them in just one day.
According to ministry statistics, 234 of the cases are among those who returned from abroad — including from South Africa, the UK, France, the US, the UAE, Hungary, Italy, Namibia, Tanzania, Germany, Morocco, Spain, Serbia, Belgium, Cyprus and Turkey — while 29 cases were among those who came in contact with those who returned from abroad and 66 were communal spread.
Another 807 cases are considered to be highly likely to be Omicron, but have yet to be confirmed by a lab, says the ministry.
Among the infected, 246 of the 341 were considered to be fully protected, either with a booster dose or a recent second dose of the COVID vaccine.
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
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