Nearly half of the new coronavirus cases detected in the past week have come from the Arab sector, the National Security Council said on Thursday, indicating a 6.5% positivity rate.
Only 9.5 % of cases were found in the ultra-Orthodox communities and 44.5% were found in the general population.
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The city of Nazareth that was classified a red zone on Thursday due to spike in coronavirus cases
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel was classified as a red zone because of increased morbidity.
On Friday, the coronavirus cabinet is set to discuss imposing a lockdown on the city in order to curb the spread of the virus.
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Police enforcing coronavirus restrictions in Nazereth on Thursday
(Photo: Avihu Shapira)
Another Arab city, that is also located in the Galilee was locked down on Wednesday after a spike in cases that showed a 10.4% positivity rate of tests conducted there.
Other Israeli Arab communities were also locked down due to the increased spread of the virus among residents.
The Health Ministry said on Thursday evening that 482 Israelis were found to have been infected by the coronavirus in the past day after more than 36,000 tests were conducted, showing a positivity rate of 1.3%.
There are currently 541 people fighting the virus in hospitals with 315 found to be in serious condition while 127 are on ventilators.
After three people died during the day on Thursday, the fatality toll since the start of the pandemic has reached 2,742.
The Director General of the Health Ministry, Professor Hezi Levi said there was a rise in cases detected. "Though the increase is slow," Levy said, "It is still a rise as indicated by the R factor that shows the scope of community spread, exceeding 1.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on Thursday that after his conversations with the CEO's of both Pfizer and Moderna, who have announced promising results of their COVID-19 trials, he has managed to ensure delivery of vaccines for the greatest number of Israelis.