Coronavirus has claimed 204 lives in Israel so far and 126 people are currently seriously ill with COVID-19, the Health Ministry said Monday night.
There are 15,555 confirmed cases of the virus in Israel and 96 patients are presently on a ventilator.
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Doctors in protective gear at Sheba Medical Center in Petah Tikva
(Photo: Shahar Goldstein )
There have been 112 new cases in the past 24 hours while 469 people have recovered from the disease. In all, 7,200 people have recovered from the disease in Israel.
A total of 362 people are currently being treated in hospitals for COVID-19, 5,190 are being treated at home and 1,756 are in specially designated hotels. Another 843 people are waiting to be informed whether they require hospitalization.
Although the number of coronavirus patients continues to rise, it seems the rate of of infections is decreasing steadily - prompting the Health Ministry to mull the closure of specialized coronavirus wards across the country.
Israel has been slowly but steadily lifting restrictions imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus as the number of recoveries continues to outpace the number of new infections.
On Sunday, the Health Ministry presented its outline for the return to normal operations in hospitals.
According to the guidelines, staff will work in permanent shifts, clinics belonging to HMOs will reopen for elective surgeries.
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Medics in protective gear against coronavirus with a patient at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv
(Photo: Zlila Helman)
The government also decided Monday to partially restart the education system from Sunday, after a month and a half of forced enclosures due to the pandemic.
Furthermore, in line with recommendations from the Ministry of Intelligence Services, Israel is on track to reopen its malls under certain restrictions.
A ministry study predicts just a 1.5-5% rise in infections from mall reopenings, with new cases unlikely to cause serious illness as most visitors are unlikely to belong to a high-risk group.
The report was drafted in preparation for a hearing Monday at the National Economic Council regarding the opening of malls in the next round of steps to ease regulations, which is expected to take place on May 3.