The spread of coronavirus infections in Israel showed a welcome decline on Wednesday evening, with 265 new cases in the past 24 hours, health officials confirmed.
On Tuesday, over 400 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in only 24 hours' time, representing the biggest daily increase since April and a contagion rate of over 2%.
The Health Ministry said the rate of infection in the past 24 hours has slightly decreased but still remains relatively high at 1.8%.
The number of people currently infected with the virus stands at 5,520, with the death toll remaining at 308.
The ministry said they are monitoring the southern city of Ashdod as potential coronavirus hotspot after another 14 people there tested positive for the pathogen in the past 24 hours.
Earlier, a partial lockdown over the central city of Elad and several neighborhoods in Tiberias in the north went into effect at 8pm due to the steep rise of coronavirus cases in those areas.
In the afternoon hours, health officials announced they're downsizing the scale of the lockdown in Tiberias from several neighborhoods to only three streets.
The three streets still in lockdown are Shefa Hayim, David Elazar and Zalman Shazar.