Hospital staff provide medical care for patients at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ward, amid a surge in new cases that has forced Israel into a second nationwide lockdown, at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov), Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept. 21, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.

i24 News – Nearly 17,000 Holocaust survivors died in 2020, with 900 of the fatalities being attributed directly to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

The annual report is traditionally published on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

According to the bureau, the death rate stands at 17%, while nearly 5,300 survivors have been infected by COVID-19, a percentage similar to that of the general population in the same age group (16%).

In women, the percentage of deaths from contracting the disease was lower than in men — 15% versus 21%.

In addition, 46% of infected Israelis aged 75 and over are comprised of Holocaust survivors.

The rate of coronavirus positivity increases with age in both survivors and everyone else, the report says.

It is twice as high among survivors aged 95 as that calculated for those aged 75 to 84.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2020, there were around 180,000 people living in Israel recognized by the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors.

Among them, 850 Holocaust survivors have reached the age of 100 and over, it was said. The average age of a Holocaust survivor in Israel is 85.