Moshe Geva Rosso, 62 years old, receives a fourth dose of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine after Israel’s Health Ministry approved a second booster for the immunocompromised, at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, December 31, 2021. REUTERS/Nir Elias

i24 News – The spread of the omicron variant in Israel will slow this week as the current wave has peaked, Prof. Eran Segal, one of the government’s top advisers in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, said on Monday.

“Infections linked to the omicron variant have spread in a similar way to the pattern we’ve seen in other countries,” Segal told Ynet.

“This week we expect to see a decrease in infections. We are already seeing a drop in those over 60,” he said.

According to Segal, around three million Israelis have already been infected, which includes many infections beyond the official figures.

The Jewish state currently leads the world with the most infections per capita since last week.

A total of 67,198 new cases were registered over the previous 24 hours in Israel, according to data released Monday by the Health Ministry, indicating a positivity rate of 29.63%.

More than half a million Israelis are currently infected with the coronavirus, according to the official number of active cases.

The number of patients hospitalized stands at 2,181, including 783 in serious condition and 144 on artificial ventilators.

“Once we stop seeing an increase in new infections, we will continue to see an increase in severe cases,” Segal explained.

“Hopefully by next week we will peak, and we will see stability and the start of a decline,” he added.