Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the head of the Health Ministry’s Public Health division, told Kikar H’Shabbat in an interview on Wednesday that the reason for the rise in the infection rate in the Chareidi sector is due to the opening of the school year without a COVID plan in place. She said that Health Ministry officials formulated a plan for Chareidi schools months before Elul but the approval for the plan’s budget [controlled by Finance Minister Avigdor Leiberman] was continuously delayed and ultimately was not approved in time. She added that the recent significant rise in the infection rate in the Chareidi sector is clearly tied to the opening of the school year on Rosh Chodesh Elul, which led to the situation today of almost all Chareidi cities now designated as red zones.

New daily coronavirus infections in Israel are approaching record levels, despite the country’s largely successful vaccination campaign and the recent rollout of the world’s first widespread booster shot. The spread of the virus has been driven by a surge in the delta variant — even among the vaccinated — and sparked talk of crackdowns on gatherings ahead of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar. The government recorded 9,831 new cases on Monday, the highest single-day figure since Jan. 18, when 10,118 new cases were detected, Israel’s record for the pandemic. In between, Israel led one of the world’s fastest vaccination drives that seemed to turn the tide on the pandemic.

HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky said on Tuesday evening that educators who haven’t been vaccinated should not be teaching. HaRav Chaim made the statement during the visit of coronavirus czar Prof. Salman Zarka to his home, a visit made in the wake of the rising infection rate in the Chareidi sector. During the meeting. Prof. Zarka brought up the issue of melamdim and girls’ teachers in the Chareidi community who still haven’t been vaccinated, especially those who teach young children who can’t be vaccinated. HaRav Chaim responded that it’s forbidden for those involved in chinuch not to be vaccinated and said that principals must suspend them from their positions.

All of Israel’s COVID patients currently attached to ECMO machines are under age 60 and unvaccinated, Yediot Achranot reported. Additionally, all coronavirus patients who died after being attached to an ECMO machine during the current fourth COVID wave were unvaccinated, according to data from the Israeli ECMO Society. Since the beginning of the fourth wave, 31 coronavirus patients have been attached to ECMO machines, five of whom died – all unvaccinated patients under the age of 60. The most recent patients to be attached to ECMO machines are a 48-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman – both unvaccinated – at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. “The main thing we’re seeing from this data is the fact that the patients who aren’t vaccinated are the worst cases,” said Dr.

Last week, Israel’s Yediot Achranot reported the dramatic testimony of a doctor who fights for the lives of coronavirus patients – and his attack on anti-vaxxers. “If only I could invite the anti-vaxxers for a shift with me to see up close how a person fights to breathe when around him other patients are sedated and ventilated – and he’s wearing a mask that covers his entire face, screaming and crying that he has no air,” the doctor said. “And his screams are faint, can barely be heard through his mask. He writhes in his bed and tries to get up, to move, to sit – anything that will help him to get a little more oxygen into his lungs. He doesn’t understand that every scream weakens him further.” “Did you ever see a person drowning? That’s exactly how it looks.

Israel’s Health Ministry expanded its COVID booster shot drive to Israelis age 30 and above on Tuesday. Those who received the second vaccine dose at least five months previously are eligible for the third vaccine. Israel became the first country in the world last month to begin providing booster shots, initially only to those 60 and above. As of Tuesday, 1,575,898 Israelis have received booster shots. Israel’s coronavirus cases continue to surge, with almost 10,000 new cases confirmed on Tuesday morning – a seven-month high. However, early data on the effectiveness of the booster shots is promising and there has already been a decline in serious cases in those over 60.

A nurse who works at Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah spoke about the regrets of the unvaccinated in a recent interview with Channel 12 News. Almost all the seriously ill coronavirus patients at the hospital are unvaccinated. Miri Shem-Ad described the suffering of the patients who are struggling to breathe. “Their eyes bulge out of their sockets in their attempts to breathe in more oxygen but the oxygen won’t come in,” she said. “Every shift I lose an average of two patients.” Shem-Ad spoke about one patient who pleaded with her not to leave him alone as his death approached. “We struggled to save him for several days but he understood that he wouldn’t make it.

The Roshei Yeshivos of seven Chabad yeshivos ketanos in Israel sent a letter last week to parents of their talmidim recommending that they refrain from sending their sons to 770 in Crown Heights for the month of Tishrei. It should be noted that the Chabad sector in Israel has been grappling with a high infection rate in the community. The Rabbanim wrote that although the advantages of traveling to 770 for Tishrei are well-known and normally the yeshivos encourage it, this year the coronavirus situation is difficult in Israel and around the world.

Seven of Israel’s public hospitals, including Shaarei Tzedek and both Hadassah hospitals, stopped accepting coronavirus patients on Monday following a press conference on Sunday night, during which the hospital directors said their hospitals are collapsing and they intend to go on strike. Magen David Adom evacuated coronavirus patients to other hospitals in central Israel. On Sunday evening, the hospital directors said they will no longer accept new coronavirus patients beginning on Monday due to a lack of funds and staff, and on Wednesday they are going on strike, which means that the hospitals will operate in “Shabbos mode,” carrying out life-saving procedures only.

A conservative talk radio host from Tennessee who had been a vaccine skeptic until he was hospitalized from COVID-19 has died. He was 61. Nashville radio station SuperTalk 99.7 WTN confirmed Phil Valentine’s death in a tweet Saturday. Valentine had been a skeptic of coronavirus vaccines. But after he tested positive for COVID-19, and prior to his hospitalization, he told his listeners to consider, “If I get this COVID thing, do I have a chance of dying from it?” If so, he advised them to get vaccinated. He said he chose not to get vaccinated because he thought he probably wouldn’t die.