coronavirus

COVID Q&A

Two months since Omicron emerged, where does Israel stand? Q&A with an expert

Did the travel ban help? Why aren’t vaccines working the same as with previous variants? Why don’t antibody counts tell us if we’re protected? Immunologist Dr. Yariv Wine answers

A Magen David Adom worker takes a swab sample from a man at a drive-thru testing complex in Jerusalem on January 17, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Health officials said to predict Omicron wave will begin receding within a week

By TOI staff

High school students take a mathematics exam in a school in Yehud, on January 20, 2022. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

Israel world #1 in daily COVID cases per capita; exposed schoolkids won’t quarantine

By TOI staff

A child receives a COVID-19 vaccine, at Clalit vaccination center in Katzrin, Golan Heights, on December 16, 2021. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

Vaccinated kids half as likely to get Omicron, but protection fades fast — study

By Nathan Jeffay

People pass COVID-19 testing site on a Manhattan street, January 21, 2022, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP)

January 22, 2022, 6:35 am

COVID cases, deaths soar worldwide but show signs of slowing

Main upsurge recorded in Asia as Omicron infections fall in countries where the coronavirus variant first appeared

By AFP

January 22, 2022, 2:45 am

Health officials said to predict Omicron wave will begin receding within a week

TV report cites Health Ministry assessments that number of new COVID infections per day has started to moderate

By TOI staff

An Ezer Mizion volunteer wearing safety gear visits a patient in the coronavirus ward of Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, on January 20, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

January 21, 2022, 7:06 pm

Israel sees 70,000 new COVID cases, with 638 hospitalized in serious condition

Those who receive booster dose continue to be better protected against serious COVID symptoms; ministry reports a 67% rise is cases from previous week

By TOI staff

Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends a vote at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, January 17, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

January 21, 2022, 12:34 pm

Gantz becomes latest government minister to catch COVID-19

Defense minister, vaccinated 4 times, says he is feeling ‘good,’ urges all to get the shots, will continue to work from home; opposition MK Meir Porush also catches virus

By Stuart Winer and TOI staff

January 21, 2022, 11:16 am

Two months since Omicron emerged, where does Israel stand? Q&A with an expert

Did the travel ban help? Why aren’t vaccines working the same as with previous variants? Why don’t antibody counts tell us if we’re protected? Immunologist Dr. Yariv Wine answers

By Nathan Jeffay

A man takes a rapid COVID-19 test in Doula, during an African Cup of Nations 2022 soccer match between Cameroon and Ethiopia at the Olembe stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

January 21, 2022, 10:13 am

COVID cases ‘drop significantly’ in Africa, WHO says

Officials say 56-day flareup was continent’s ‘shortest upsurge yet’ in pandemic, as cases fall by 20 percent

By AFP

A medical assistant prepares a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children at a vaccination center set up at a car dealership in Iserlohn, western Germany, on January 5, 2022. (Ina Fassbender/AFP)

January 21, 2022, 9:43 am

Natural immunity was more potent than vaccines during US Delta wave — study

But authors of paper warn against depending on infection, given the higher risks of hospitalization, long-term impacts and death

By AFP and TOI staff

A healthcare worker tends to a Covid-19 patient, at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Bellvitge University Hospital in Barcelona on January 19, 2022 (Josep LAGO / AFP)

January 21, 2022, 9:31 am

Spain leads call for COVID-19 to be treated like flu

Madrid says governments should start tackling disease as any other endemic respiratory virus, but WHO warns such an attitude is premature

By AFP

Health workers collect a swab sample from a man to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 20, 2022. (AFP)

January 21, 2022, 7:21 am

World breaks daily COVID case count record, again, tally shows

Over 3 million cases recorded between January 13 and 19, a 17% increase over the previous week’s record numbers, as fast-spreading Omicron blankets whole countries

By AFP

Lawmakers vote on compulsory COVID-19 vaccination in the parliament in Vienna, Austria, on January 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)

January 20, 2022, 11:10 pm

In first for an EU state, Austria makes COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for adults

Health minister says ‘law is urgently needed right now’ amid surging Omicron wave; 72% of population fully vaccinated

By EMILY SCHULTHEIS and Geir Moulson

January 20, 2022, 9:22 pm

Israel world #1 in daily COVID cases per capita; exposed schoolkids won’t quarantine

Starting next Thursday, students to take antigen tests twice a week at home and present negative results when going to school; PM says ‘millions’ of home tests to be handed out

By TOI staff

Czech folk singer Hana Horka during a performance of her band Asonance in September 2012. (Screenshot: YouTube)

January 20, 2022, 5:13 pm

Czech anti-vaccine singer dies after deliberately catching COVID

Hana Horka, vocalist for folk band, chose to get infected from vaccinated relatives in order to gain access to sauna and theater, says her son

By AFP

People wearing face masks attend a music concert in Barcelona, Spain, March 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

January 20, 2022, 1:00 pm

Europe considers new COVID-19 strategy: Accepting the virus

After two pandemic-filled years, some countries, led by Spain, are working to treat next infection surge not as an emergency but an illness that is here to stay

By Aritz Parra

January 20, 2022, 6:17 am

Vaccinated kids half as likely to get Omicron, but protection fades fast — study

Health Ministry-led research also shows teens who got their shots over four months ago only slightly better off than unvaccinated; hospitalizations among kids reportedly on rise

By Nathan Jeffay

Hospital staff wear safety gear as they work in a coronavirus ward of Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, on January 18, 2022. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

January 19, 2022, 8:46 pm

Serious COVID cases top 500, total infections since pandemic’s start pass 2 million

Close to 150,000 children are out of school with coronavirus infections, while more than 1,200 doctors and 2,540 nurses are missing work after testing positive

By TOI staff