Israel Surpasses US in New Virus Cases Per Capita

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel officially outranks the United States in the number of new coronavirus infections per capita according to data compiled by Oxford University.

On Tuesday, Israel recorded 210.96 new COVID-19 cases per 1 million people, making it the country with the world’s fifth-highest number of new COVID-19 cases per capita, behind Oman, Panama, Brazil and Bahrain.

Despite its initial marked success, Israel overtook the United States for most new #COVID19 cases/million people today@OurWorldInData pic.twitter.com/B49kKSaqU1

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) July 28, 2020

The US has an infection rate of 198.64 per 1 million people, Our World in Data reported.

However, the US has a much higher fatality rate than Israel.

Since the outbreak began, Israel has seen more than 66,500 virus cases. Today, there are more than 30,000 active cases and 486 deaths.

Despite receiving praise for its initial success in quelling the virus, Israel is in the middle of a second wave and leaders are struggling to meet demands. With the country’s unemployment rate still above 20%, many Israelis are turning to the streets for nightly protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s virus policies.

Israel’s newly appointed coronavirus commissioner, Prof. Ronni Gamzu on Tuesday unveiled new plans to combat the virus.

During his presentation, Gamzu promised that the government will not impose “illogical” restrictions. He also admitted that the Health Ministry has done a poor job in testing and tracking the virus. Instead, the country’s military will help lead testing.

“The IDF knows how to win wars,” he said. “It will also know how to win this battle,” Gamzu said.

He also promised that new data collected about the virus will be presented to Israeli citizens in a clear and organized way.