The Ministry of Health publishes data regarding Corona tests, currently covering the 10 weeks between March 15 and May 23. According to MOH data, during the week ending April 25 (the week after Passover) the number of people tested for Corona in Israel peaked, with 62,800 men and women tested (not including repeated tests). Thereafter, the number of tests decreased, and in the week ending May 23, 22,700 people were tested.

For most of the period, the number of men and the number of women tested was similar, but in the past three weeks the number of women exceeded the number of men, and in the last week for which data is available, they accounted for 56% of the tested individuals (with men accounting for 44%).

Among both men and women, the age group most tested throughout the period is ages 20-39. This age group constituted 36% of the people tested in the last week for which data is available, a percentage higher than this group’s weight in Israel’s population, which stands at 27%.

A similar trend was observed among those aged 80 and over, who constituted 10% of the tests during the week ending May 23, a very high percentage compared to their share in the population, which stands at 2.9%. The proportion of 80+ year olds among the peolle tested in the week ending April 18 was even higher, at 14%.

An opposite trend was recorded among children aged 0-19. The proportion of this age group among the tested people in the week ending May 23 was 19%, compared with their share in the population, standing at 36%. Perhaps the lower number of tests in this age group was due to the fact that children generally receive the disease mildly or even asymptomatically, and are therefore in low risk.

As in all age groups, the number of tests among children dropped in the last two weeks. It is likely that, following the outbreak in a number of schools in Israel, there will be an increase in the number of children tested in the coming weeks.

Young or old, keep healthy.