Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday claimed the Israeli economy is on the mend but warned of the rise in coronavirus cases.
The Health Ministry announced an increase in confirmed cases with over 200 new cases detected since Wednesday.
There are currently 3,019 people ill with COVID-19, 120 of them being treated in hospital with 34 in a serious condition of which 24 are on ventilators.
"The rise in cases is steep and if it continues, we will be back to where we were at the height of contagion and that would mean people being gravely ill and even dying and we must stop this now," the prime minister said.
Netanyahu called on the public to maintain social distancing, wear face masks and increase their observance of hygiene, warning that if the increase in the number of cases continues there would be a need to impose restrictions on the economy again.
"It is in our hands," he said adding that the overcrowding at the beaches and in the pubs that he has observed worries him.
"I understand we have all let our guard down," Netanyahu said.
Earlier the prime minister attended a meeting of the ministerial committee dealing with the coronavirus pandemic which heard reports on the spread of the virus but made no decision to impose any measures to curb the renewed spread.
The ministers called for more enforcement of the health directives and for special attention to be given to areas where contagion has been detected.
The Education Ministry announced that as of Thursday, 460 teachers and students are confirmed to have been infected by COVID-19 and 165 institutions have been closed after cases of coronavirus were confirmed among their staff or students.
First published: 20:31, 06.11.20