Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the world has seen a dramatic improvement in infections, hospitalizations and death rates in recent weeks, signaling the crisis appears to be winding down. But how will it end? Past epidemics may provide clues. The ends of epidemics are not as thoroughly researched as their beginnings. But there are recurring themes that could offer lessons for the months ahead, said Erica Charters of the University of Oxford, who studies the issue. “One thing we have learned is it’s a long, drawn-out process” that includes different types of endings that may not all occur at the same time, she said. That includes a “medical end,” when disease recedes, the “political end,” when government prevention measures cease, and the “social end,” when people move on.

The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months after the groundbreaking experiment, the Maryland hospital that performed the surgery announced Wednesday. David Bennett, 57, died Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Doctors didn’t give an exact cause of death, saying only that his condition had begun deteriorating several days earlier. Bennett’s son praised the hospital for offering the last-ditch experiment, saying the family hoped it would help further efforts to end the organ shortage. “We are grateful for every innovative moment, every crazy dream, every sleepless night that went into this historic effort,” David Bennett Jr. said in a statement released by the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

A four-year-old from Jerusalem has contracted polio, the first case in Israel in 33 years, the Health Ministry reported Sunday. The child’s case was caused by a mutant polio strain that can infect those who are unvaccinated. Doctors fear that the child will suffer permanent damage, including paralysis in half of her body, Channel 12 News reported. The parents brought the child for medical testing due to weakness in the left side of her body. The Jerusalem Municipality reported that the child is a 4-year-old girl from Mea Shearim.

Israel’s Health Ministry reported on Sunday that the vast majority of COVID patients attached to ECMO machines are unvaccinated. According to the ministry, fully vaccinated patients rarely require ECMOS. Interestingly, one result of that fact is that out of 252 patients attached to EMCOs due to COVID, 212 were under the age of 60, due to the high vaccination rate among Israelis over age 60. “People who are vaccinated suffer milder symptoms of COVID-19,” chairman of the Israeli ECMO Association, Dr. Yigal Kasif, said. “There is something in the vaccine which prevents the virus from destroying the body’s defenses. It is simple, vaccines work.” “We spoke of this last year when there were small numbers of vaccinated patients in need of ECMO, but it is even more evident now,” he said.

Israel’s Health Ministry confirmed another 89 fatalities on Thursday morning, increasing the total COVID death toll to over 9,000 as the country grapples with an unprecedented surge in the infection rate spurred by the Omicron variant. The current death toll of 9,013 means that one in 1,000 Israelis have passed away of COVID. There are currently 2,753 hospitalized COVID patients, of whom 1,147 are seriously ill, which means that Israel will soon break its record of 1,200 seriously ill patients. Meanwhile, Yisrael Hayom reported that directors of geriatric and hospice institutions are warning that due to insufficient government funding, the high occupancy rate, and the absence of hundreds of staff who are in quarantine, seriously ill COVID patients are receiving substandard care.

An 11-year-old Israeli boy has been confirmed to have contracted three COVID variants, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron. “I’m fine, I feel pretty healthy, I hardly have symptoms,” Alon Helfgot told Channel 12 News. Alon said that he was sicker when he had Alpha and Delta. “I had a high fever when I had Alpha,” he said. Alon said that he’s one of 10 out of 27 kids in his class who currently have COVID, and complained that he’s bored, adding that he’s already been in quarantine 3-4 times since the school year started. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Ten Israeli children were hospitalized in the past week due to suspected pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS) after recovering from COVID, Kan News reported on Sunday. Six of the children have been confirmed to be ill with PIMS and doctors strongly suspect that the other four have it as well. A week ago there was only one case of PIMS in Israel, three more children were confirmed with it four days ago, and six more children since then. The Health Ministry and Israel Pediatric Association are concerned that cases of PIMS will increase in the coming weeks as the syndrome occurs from three to six weeks after recovery.

Israel’s Chevrei Kadisha are staggering under the load of the high COVID death rate this month amid an unprecedented infection rate spurred by the Omicron variant, with the number of COVID cases confirmed in three weeks in January surpassing all the cases confirmed in 2021. Since the start of January, 468 COVID fatalities have been buried through the Religious Affairs Ministry, which connects hospitals to Chevros Kadisha throughout Israel, as compared to last month, when only 38 COVID fatalities were buried, Yisrael Hayom reported. “It’s extremely difficult to deal with the situation right now,” Rav Avraham Mendla, the director of the Chevros Kadisha Forum and head of the Chevra Kadisha in Tel Aviv, told Yisrael Hayom. “We’re almost completely out of manpower.

A Boston hospital is defending itself after a man’s family claimed he was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients’ chances of survival. The family of D.J. Ferguson said in a crowdfunding appeal this week that officials at Brigham and Women’s Hospital told the 31-year-old father of two that he was ineligible for the procedure because he hasn’t been vaccinated against the coronavirus. “We are literally in a corner right now. This is extremely time sensitive,” the family said in its fundraising appeal, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars. “This is not just a political issue.

Israeli health officials reported on Tuesday that the number of COVID fatalities in the country has soared, with up to 40 fatalities a day, 40 times the number of daily fatalities just two weeks ago. In the city of Rechovot, 13 residents passed away of COVID just on Monday. According to a Yisrael Hayom report, the local Chevra Kadisha had to recruit additional workers for the 25 levayos that took place that day, 12 of whom passed away from non-COVID related causes. The director of the COVID ward at Kaplan Medical Center in Rechovot said: “This is a sad day in the ward. It’s extremely difficult to endure the grief of the families even when the patients were in such severe condition. Even after two years, we haven’t acclimated to these sights.” Prof.