PM to meet with health officials as COVID spreads ‘in several places’ across globe

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will hold a meeting with top health officials due to rising COVID-19 infections “in several places around the world,” his office said Tuesday.

Among those scheduled to take part in Wednesday’s meeting are Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and senior Health Ministry officials, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The statement did not specify any areas experiencing rising morbidity figures but comes amid rising infections in China, which reported 5,280 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, more than double the previous day’s tally and the highest daily count since the start of the pandemic.

Since the coronavirus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, China had successfully suppressed large-scale outbreaks through its strict “zero-COVID” strategy, which involved hard lockdowns that confined huge sections of the population to their homes.

But Tuesday was the sixth day in a row that more than 1,000 new cases were recorded in the world’s second-biggest economy.

At least 11 cities and counties nationwide have been locked down because of the latest surge, including the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, home to 17 million people.

Wednesday’s meeting also comes as the rate of COVID transmission in Israel has risen over the past weeks, raising concerns among health officials a fresh wave of coronavirus could be on the way.

On Tuesday, the R number — the reproduction rate of the novel coronavirus — ticked up slightly to 0.88, as the Health Ministry reported 6,551 new cases were recorded the day before. According to ministry data, there were 37,022 active infections in the country, including 342 people hospitalized in serious condition, 149 of them on ventilators.

The death toll stood at 10,398, with 50 fatalities recorded in the past seven days, a decline of 51.9 percent from the week before.

As morbidity figures have steadily dropped the past month as the Omicron-driven fifth wave tails off, most COVID-related restrictions on commerce and gatherings have been lifted, while testing and quarantine requirements for returning travelers have been eased. The indoor mask mandate, however, has remained in place, although it goes largely unenforced.

This week marks the holiday of Purim, often celebrated with large parties and celebrations. A month later is Passover, which is generally observed with extended family gatherings. Two years ago, Passover was marked under a strict lockdown, with families ordered to not host any relatives from outside their household.

According to a Channel 12 news report Sunday, COVID czar Salman Zarka said in internal Health Ministry meetings that he is “concerned that by next week the trend could reverse, and we could start to see a rise in seriously ill patients.” He also reportedly warned that cases are rising in old age homes, and that people are being less careful as the wave has ebbed.

Amy Spiro contributed to this report.