5.5% of Israelis had coronavirus – serological survey results

Around 5.5% of the Israeli population has had coronavirus, according to the results of the national serological survey that were released Thursday by the Health Ministry.The survey, conducted between July and September 2020 was meant to help assess the presence of antibodies to the novel coronavirus in the Israeli population. Some 55,000 Israelis from throughout the country of various sexes, ages and religions were sampled.“Israel is one of the first countries in the world to conduct a national serological survey,” said Health Minister Yuli Edelstein. “The survey is part of the Health Ministry’s efforts to find more innovative methods to test for coronavirus.”The survey also found that a higher percentage of men (4.9%) than women (3.1%) had coronavirus. Some 8.1% of children between the ages of 10 and 18 have been infected.Jerusalem had the highest percentage of sick people (9.5%), inline with it also having the highest number of known patients throughout the pandemic. The survey showed that around 2.2% of Tel Avivians were infected and 1.1% of Haifa residents. The rate in the North appears to be 1.9%, according to the survey. More Jewish than non-Jewish people have had the virus – 3.6% in Jewish localities versus 2.1% in non-Jewish localities. The presence in ultra-Orthodox localities was about five times higher than in non-Orthodox localities. Finally, areas defined as red zones in the first wave had four times more people with antibodies than other non-red localities.The Health Ministry stressed that Israel is far from herd immunity, based on these statistics. Moreover, a release reminded that a high level of antibodies in the blood does not necessarily indicate long-term immunity, as more research on this subject still needs to be conducted.The nationwide survey is the second serological survey done in Israel. An earlier one was conducted in the haredi city of Bnei Brak.
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