Israel is currently being swept by the wave of omicrons, and we hope that it will soon reach its peak and we will begin to see a rapid decline in morbidity.
In the UK, which is about three weeks ahead of us, we are already seeing the expected decline, and so is the US.
The large number of patients places Israel in the first and most dubious place in the world in the number of patients per 1,000 people.
However, it also raises the immunity of the population, and together with those who have been vaccinated - brings us closer to the immunity of the herd.
In the meantime, the health care system is required to continue to bear the brunt and provide the proper medical response to the citizens.
The mission in the fifth wave is more complex than ever.
The omicron is often a milder disease than the Delta, and yet, given such a broad denominator, the large number of severely ill patients puts a burden on hospitals.
In addition to the corona, hospitals are also full of patients with routine winter sickness, caused by the flu virus and respiratory viruses.
It is the internal medicine departments that are required to treat both regular and corona patients.
The current wave is also characterized by a high number of sick children, bringing congestion in pediatric wards, intensive care units and emergency rooms.
Corona ward at Ziv Hospital in Safed, Photo: David Cohen, Ginny
In all of these departments we also lack a medical staff routinely - a shortage that worsened during the Corona period.
Hospitalization in the hallway, which is a shame and disgrace to us all, has become the routine of patients' lives.
I personally apologize to each and every one of the people we have no place to hospitalize in the conditions they deserve.
The third factor that makes it difficult to cope with the corona is the high number of sick staff members, and of those who are in isolation with their children.
I feel a deep disappointment that our dear country is not giving the health care system, one of the best and most efficient in the world (sixth place in the Bloomberg Global Efficiency Index), the required standards and staffs.
We have no doubt that all the obligations before us will be fulfilled in full, so that we can give the people of Israel the care we can give him, and that he so deserves.
A strong health care system is a key component of national security, no less than a strong army and a quality education system.
The addition of 45 intensive care beds, which we were informed about last night, is a welcome first step on the way to strengthening the health system - and we thank the Ministries of Health and Finance for this.
Corona testing complex in the Upper Galilee // Photo: Eyal Margolin, Ginny,
The other tier in dealing with the corona is the vaccines.
The epidemic team recommended this week that the director general of the Ministry of Health allow anyone who wants to get vaccinated with the fourth vaccine - from the age of 18, five months after the previous dose. The decision is based on groundbreaking studies in Israel. I was vaccinated, and so were my older parents who contracted Omicron, and despite being over 80 and my father's severe background illnesses - easily went through an illness that could have been difficult.
I am convinced that in the near future we will see relief.
And yet, if we do not maintain a vaccination routine, the omicron's herd immunity will also pass, and we will have to deal with a new wave.
Without vaccines and a strong health system - we will find ourselves in chaos again.
Prof. Arnon Afek is acting chairman of the Association of Hospital Managers, and former director general of the Ministry of Health
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