The Health Ministry issued new regulations on Wednesday, effectively reducing the quarantine period for coronavirus patients.
According to the new order, patients will now be considered recovered after three consecutive days without symptoms and at least 10 days since testing positive or the onset of symptoms.
In case a patient cannot recall when their symptoms first started, they will be considered recovered 10 days after testing positive, given the patient did not display any symptoms in the last three days. Asymptomatic patients will be considered recovered 10 days after their initial diagnosis.
According to a Health Ministry statement, the move comes after the ministry had adopted new World Health Organization recommendations to shorten the isolation period of confirmed coronavirus patients and is expected to save virus tests and lift much workload off the healthcare system.
Only a doctor is allowed to shorten a patient's isolation period and confirm their recovery.
3 View gallery
Doctor treating coronavirus patient at Rambam Medical Center
(Photo: Rambam Medical Center)
Health maintenance organization (HMO) Maccabi Healthcare Services estimated that over 7,000 patients will be able to step out from quarantine in the coming hours following the publication of the new directive.
the Health Ministry reported Wednesday morning that 1,977 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the previous 24 hours, Israel's highest daily tally of confirmed cases since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Since the beginning of the week, 4,857 new patients have been diagnosed with coronavirus in Israel, and 21,661 patients in the previous 14 days - 1,547 new patients every day on average. For comparison, 17,075 patients were diagnosed in March, April and May combined.
The number of active coronavirus patients in the country also stands at a record-high 31,313, among them, 259 patients in serious condition and 82 patients are on ventilators.
Three Israelis have succumbed overnight to complications of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus, bringing Israel's virus-related fatalities to 430.
Health authorities conducted 29,079 coronavirus tests on Tuesday, 7.78% of which returned positive.