A full 39% of Israel’s new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours were found among Arab-Israelis although only 16% of Israel’s tests were carried out in Arab areas, a report by the Arab Emergency Commission stated on Tuesday.

Following the beginning of Israel’s second lockdown on October 2, the infection rate in the Arab sector in Israel dramatically decreased. But the numbers didn’t stay low for long and in recent weeks, the infection rate has been surging.

Health officials say the increased infection rate is due to large gatherings at weddings and travel to the Palestinian Authority.

The report says that although Arab Israelis comprise about 20% of Israel’s population, the sector now accounts for 37.9% of active virus infections nationwide. This data does not include residents of East Jerusalem so the actual number of infections in the Arab sector is even higher.

Furthermore, the rate of virus testing is low in the Arab population so there is a phenomenon of “hidden morbidity” in the sector, which means that the actual numbers of virus cases are far higher than the data shows.

The increased infection rate has naturally led to an increase in mortality in the sector as well as the number of seriously ill patients requiring hospitalization.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)