The fifth wave of the corona has been in decline for more than a week with the number of carriers now being discovered daily - about 35,000 people - being about half the numbers of the wave peak.
Another manifestation of the weakening of the wave is the gradual decline in the number of severely ill patients hospitalized.
Here, too, from a peak of 1,263 people a decline was recorded for 1,150 severe patients, and it can be assumed that the slow decline will continue.
Corona examination (archive) // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon,
Against this background, the question arises whether this year there will be Adlaide marches, mass scroll readings and parties on Purim.
According to Prof. Zvika Granot of the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University, this year there will be no real impediment to celebrating Purim en masse.
"Looking at the omicron wave, we see that despite the huge extent of infection, hospitals did not explode in a large parallel wave of severe patients," he says, It is very difficult for patients. In this respect, it is difficult to predict the number of people infected on Purim, but it can be said that corona is becoming another winter disease that we will live with. Today we have both vaccines and drugs, and "They were at home - we need to loosen the reins now."
Prof. Nadav Davidovich, head of the Public Health School at Ben-Gurion University, is more cautious and believes that it remains to be seen what Purim parties will look like this year. "Obviously it will be possible to celebrate, but I believe that epidemiological considerations will still have some limitations."
Prof. Eli Somekh, an expert in the treatment of infectious and immunological diseases in children at Maayan Hayeshua Hospital, believes that there is a good chance that a good one will be widely celebrated.
"In total there is another month until Purim, and the virus is in principle currently in decline. The point is that the BA.2 mutation may prolong the decline of the fifth wave, so we may reach Purim and need at least some restrictions, so as not to create a situation that will further prolong corona decline. "At the moment, the general direction is very good, and we can cautiously say that there is a good chance that it will be possible to celebrate Purim widely this year."
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