Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, July 25, 2020
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Virus death rate in ‘second wave’ less than half that of initial outbreak
Though Israel has seen a much greater number of coronavirus infections in the “second wave” of the pandemic, the percentage of those killed by COVID-19 is markedly lower.
While the death rate was 2.1 percent during the intitial outbreak, it is now 0.8%, Ran Balicer, an epidemiologist and executive at Clalit Health Services, tells Channel 12 news.
Balicer says possible explanations for this are that authorities are now detecting a larger number of asymptomatic carriers and are doing a better job of protecting at-risk groups. Hospitals have also improved their ability to treat those sick with the virus.
