Israel National Security Adviser Believes Coronavirus Infection Rate May Be ‘Slowing Down,’ Report Says

Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat reportedly said on April 2 that the country’s coronavirus infection rate is starting to decline.

The Times of Israel reported that Ben-Shabbat told the prime minister’s Cabinet in a conference call, “There are signs that the rate of infection is slowing down,” although he admitted this is not yet “a steady trend.” According to Haaretz, Israel’s rate of infection declined from 1.25 people per patient to 1.15 people per patient since March 26, a decline of 33%.

Israeli Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman-Tov also said on April 3 that Israel could begin to reopen the economy “in a careful and controlled way” after Passover if the Jewish state makes significant progress in curbing the spread of the virus.

However, Hebrew University neuroscience professor Eran Meshorer pointed to data showing that Israel’s new cases are currently higher than expected:

#COVID19 in Israel, Apr-3. More than 800 new cases per day in the last 2 days (linear projection: ~500+), more than half from ultra religious neighborhoods. Largest rise (36%) in EL'AD. We're still doing OK (should have had >10K in Apr-1), but the positive trend is reversing. pic.twitter.com/B6LOuRxxvF

— Eran Meshorer (@meshorer1) April 3, 2020

As of April 3, there were 7,428 confirmed cases and 39 deaths from the virus in Israel. One of the cases is a 22-year-old male without any underlying health conditions who was placed on life support on April 3.

An April 2 report from the Times warned that Israel will run out of the materials needed to produce COVID-19 test kits over the next couple of days.