Coronavirus in Israel: What do we know about the 143 hospitalized people?

Some 143 Israelis were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday at 12 p.m., according to the Health Ministry – 58% of them were vaccinated, 39% were not and 3% were partially vaccinated, meaning they had taken one dose or a full week had not passed since their second shot.

Only one patient was a child. Five were pregnant women or women who recently gave birth.

Of the country’s 64 serious patients, including 17 in critical condition, there were 12 who were being invasively ventilated. However, while the percentage of vaccinated cases was high, the percentage of those who require invasive treatment was low: Only three fully vaccinated people were being invasively ventilated.

Also, only two people were connected to an ECMO external oxygenation machine, and neither of them were vaccinated.

Although the number of serious patients is on the rise – with 154 new ones this month compared to only 31 new ones in May and 17 in June – there were 972 new serious cases last July.

Some 18,469 Israelis have been listed in serious or critical condition since the start of the pandemic.

Thirty of the 143 hospitalized patients were in moderate condition and 49 in mild condition.

According to the Health Ministry, there are 42 patients in one of the four hospitals in Central Israel besides Tel Aviv. Some 37 people are being treated in Tel Aviv, 25 in Haifa, 15 in Southern Israel, 15 in Northern Israel and another nine in Jerusalem.

Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba has the highest number of patients with 14, and also the highest number of serious cases – along with Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center – with seven. Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera followed closely behind with six.

No other hospital had any serious patients in the double digits; the highest number of patients at any other facility was nine.

Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, 6,452 Israelis have died of the disease. The deadliest month was January 2021, when 1,445 Israelis died.

So far this month, 20 people have died of the virus, compared to nine people last month and 237 in July 2020.

Fifteen of the 20 people who died this month were fully vaccinated.