As the Delta coronavirus variant takes hold in Israel, the government is cautiously optimistic its successful vaccination drive can save it from the deadly surge in cases seen earlier in the pandemic.
In a show of confidence, Israel last month lifted its indoor mask-wearing mandate after more than a year. But only 10 days later, masks were back on.
The about-turn came amid outbreaks of coronavirus in Israel, where from late April to June fewer than 100 cases had been detected each day.
"The world is currently dealing with an immense wave of the Delta variant,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday, of the highly infectious strain.
“Our goal in the government is to continue managing – calmly and based on information and facts – the continued dealing with the coronavirus in general and with the Delta variant in particular,” he said.
Health Ministry data showed infections were increasing, from a daily average of 14 recorded cases a month ago to 386 on Thursday.
Beyond the revived mask-wearing rule – which is not being strictly observed – the government held off on reimposing measures on its nine million residents.
“The main effort is given to locating new cases,” said Noa Harrowitz, spokeswoman for Clalit, Israel’s largest health care provider. She said there were dozens of testing sites in operation nationwide.
Authorities are also working to boost vaccinations, particularly among the 12 to 15 year olds who became eligible in June.
As part of the campaign, the prime minister’s daughter, 14, was pictured last month getting her shot.
Around 25 per cent of under-19s are fully vaccinated, compared to more than 56 per cent of the total population.
The five million Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank are not part of Israel’s vaccination programme. The government instead opted to vaccinate around 100,000 Palestinians who have Israeli work permits.
Although hundreds of new cases are recorded each day in Israel, the number of patients in serious condition over the past month has risen moderately from 31 to 46.
Nonetheless, the country’s largest hospital this week reopened a coronavirus ward.
“The vaccine is not 100 per cent protection. We anticipate seeing patients but not in the numbers that we have seen in the first three waves,” said Eyal Leshem, an infectious disease specialist at Sheba Medical Centre.
“Previously, if we let thousands of cases in the community we would see hundreds of deaths.."
Israel has registered only four coronavirus deaths over the past month, in addition to an 86-year-old man who died on Thursday and has not yet been included in official figures. The elderly patient was fully vaccinated, a spokeswoman for the Rambam hospital in the city of Haifa said.
Despite the increase in cases, Israel is not expected to tighten controls significantly at the country’s borders.
Looking ahead, Dr Leshem remained optimistic that few patients will need to be admitted to hospital.
“I think this is the right way to approach, [to] cautiously observe the number of cases,” he said.
“There is a good chance that we will not need severe public health measures to keep this current event in check.”
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
