Israel could see up to 40 percent of the population infected with coronaviruses during the current wave, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday.
According to the data presented at the cabinet meeting, between two to four million citizens in Israel will be infected during this current wave, Bennett wrote on his Twitter account.
Israel has seen more than quadruple infections over the past week, compared to the previous one, a country of just 9.4 million. On Saturday, the health ministry reported 17,518 new infections.
The lack of testing sites caused the government to revise its testing policy and designate the PCR tests, the most accurate, only for people at risk and over 60 to be under pressure on the existent ones.
Anyone else is allowed to take an antigen test, whether it's at home or applied by a doctor.
Antigen tests are in scarce supply at pharmacies around the country, and people spend hours in line waiting to get one administered.
Bennett stated that he would do everything possible to avoid a lockdown, which he said has not proved an efficient measure against the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant, and could cause a heavy blow to the economy.
He said that the goal is to keep the economy functioning as much as possible and to protect the most vulnerable.
Israel allowed vaccinated visitors into the country six weeks after shutting its borders completely in order to prepare for the inevitable fifth wave of Covid cases by vaccinating and obtaining medication.
More than 4.3 million Israelis have been fully vaccineed with three shots, while 204 people are hospitalised in serious condition as a result of Covid 19 illness on Sunday.
More than 1.5 million Covid cases, including 8,269 deaths, have been officially recorded in Israel.