As YWN reported on Wednesday, Israel’s hospitals are overcrowded with coronavirus patients, and shortages of ECMO machines, ICU beds and staff means that patients’ needs are not being adequately met, leading to a high rate of deaths. According to a Kan News report on Wednesday evening, a third of COVID patients who require care in the ICU are hospitalized in other wards that cannot sufficiently meet their needs. Those vaccinated in other wards are attached to ventilators but don’t receive the intensive treatment ICU patients require, including the constant presence of staff.

In a tense meeting with Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Nachman Ash on Sunday, hospital directors warned that their hospitals are nearing a state of total collapse. The directors said that the number of coronavirus patients attached to ECMO machines is increasing and the demand is beginning to outstrip the supply. Additionally, “the medical staffers are at a breaking point, they’re working around the clock,” they said. Professor Sigal Sviri Sarussi, the head of the COVID intensive care unit at Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, said: “The vast majority of critically and seriously ill patients are unvaccinated.

Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash said last week that Israel’s current coronavirus wave is worse than all the previous waves. Speaking via teleconference at a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, Ash said that the current average number of new daily cases is 8,000, with some days reaching over 10,000, and “that is a record number that wasn’t seen in the previous waves.” “We were in a clear downward trend a week ago but in recent days we’ve been seeing that decline stop,” Ash said. The Health Ministry confirmed on Sunday morning that the total number of coronavirus patients in serious condition has risen to 726, of whom 195 are ventilated. Seventeen additional fatalities were confirmed over the weekend, raising the death toll to 7,511.

Dr. Homayoun Sameyeh-Najafabadi, a pharmacologist and the representative of the Jewish community in Iranian parliament since 2020, said recently that there are 500 cases of mucormycosis, a life-threatening disease commonly known as the “black fungus,” in Iran. Speaking on state television, Sameyeh-Najafabadi said that the rise in cases stems from the use of corticosteroid treatment for COVID patients and cases have been documented in several provinces, including Tehran. “Black fungus” is a rare but serious infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes that generally affect those who are immunocompromised. The infection affects the sinuses and facial bones and can cause sight loss or brain damage. Black fungus has a 50% mortality rate if left untreated.

There’s been an increase in recent days in the number of pregnant and postpartum women hospitalized in Israel after contracting the coronavirus. As of Wednesday, there were 39 pregnant women and 24 postpartum women with the coronavirus in hospitals across Israel. Thirteen of the women are in serious condition, four of whom are ventilated and one of whom is attached to an ECMO machine. All 13 women in serious condition are completely unvaccinated. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Avi Shaulian, the brother of Chai Shaulian, z’l, a leading Israeli anti-vaxxer who died of COVID earlier this week, tearfully spoke about the loss of his brother and his feelings of regret that he couldn’t convince him to get vaccinated. Speaking on Channel 12 News the day after his brother’s death, he said: “This is a very difficult day. In another few hours, we’re going to bury my older brother. Until his last day, he thought his path was correct. We had many arguments with him trying to explain our view. It almost caused us to cut off contact with each other but at the end we were in touch until his last moment. We told him: ‘Vaccinate, vaccinate,’ but it didn’t help.” In a voice choked with tears, Avi appealed to the public: “It’s not a game – go be vaccinated.

Prof. Galia Rahav, director of the Infectious Diseases Department at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer who is considered one of the most senior and experienced doctors in  COVID treatment in Israel, painted a bleak picture of the current COVID situation in Israel, Yisrael Hayom reported on Sunday morning. “I’ve been crying recently,” Prof. Rahav said. “The mortality from COVD right now is very severe, it’s unbearable. There aren’t enough ICU beds for ventilated COVID patients.” “They don’t know enough about treating ventilated patients in some of the COVID wards,” she said. “Patients who aren’t expected to live die because there aren’t enough beds and staff in the ICU.

A 21-year-old Israeli who hadn’t been vaccinated against COVID contracted the virus and passed away on Motzei Shabbos at Wolfson Hospital in Holon. After suffering a severe deterioration in his condition, the young man was evacuated to the hospital in critical condition. Doctors attempted to resuscitate him for a prolonged period of time but were ultimately forced to declare his death. Israel’s Health Ministry confirmed 10,084 new coronavirus patients on Sunday morning. There are currently 1,168 hospitalized coronavirus patients, of whom 697 are seriously ill and 154 are ventilated. Seven coronavirus patients passed away over Shabbos, increasing the death toll to 7,338. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The summer that was supposed to mark America’s independence from COVID-19 is instead drawing to a close with the U.S. more firmly under the tyranny of the virus, with deaths per day back up to where they were in March. The delta variant is filling hospitals, sickening alarming numbers of children and driving coronavirus deaths in some places to the highest levels of the entire pandemic. School systems that reopened their classrooms are abruptly switching back to remote learning because of outbreaks. Legal disputes, threats and violence have erupted over mask and vaccine requirements. The U.S. death toll stands at more than 650,000, with one major forecast model projecting it will top 750,000 by Dec. 1.

An unvaccinated 28-year-old unvaccinated new mother was hospitalized in serious condition in the UCU At Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera over Yom Tov after giving birth via C-section. According to a statement from the hospital, the condition of the woman, who is sedated and ventilated, is serious but stable. Fortunately, the baby is doing well. On Wednesday, a 30-year-old Israeli-Arab unvaccinated woman passed away of the coronavirus in northern Israel after giving birth last week. Following the birth at Emek Hospital in Afula, she was hospitalized in the coronavirus ward in moderate condition. However, on Tuesday, her condition rapidly deteriorated and she was transferred to the COVID ICU unit in the Carmel Medical Center in Haifa and attached to an ECMO machine.