The Health Ministry announced on Wednesday that another 90 patients have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since Tuesday night, bringing Israel's sick tally to 427.
The new numbers marked a 40-percent jump in the past 24 hours, and the Health Ministry predicted a steeper rise as mass-testing is implemented.
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Health worker at a Tel Aviv hotel repurposed for hosting coronavirus patients in quarantine
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
"We will reach a situation in which there are many hundreds of new patients each day, and possibly more," Moshe Bar-Siman-Tov, director-general of the Health Ministry, told Army Radio.
Five patients are hospitalized in serious condition, ten additional patients are in moderate condition and eleven patients have made a full recovery.
Having urged Israelis to stay home and approved cyber-monitoring of their movements to reduce infection risks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at least 3,000 coronavirus tests would be conducted daily, including at new drive-through stations.
The IDF announced on Wednesday that two of the newly diagnosed patients were career soldiers in active service - patient no. 335, a man his 30s, and patient no. 336, a woman in her 20s. Both patients are hospitalized in light condition and are reported to have come in contact with another confirmed patient.
These are the eighth and ninth cases of the virus within the ranks of the Israeli army.
An IDF spokesperson said that the people who came in contact with the soldiers were updated and that other people who came in contact with them would be located.
The Palestinians reported on Wednesday three more cases of the virus in Bethlehem. There are 44 confirmed patients in the West Bank.
No infections have yet been reported in the Gaza Strip.
Israel Police said overnight Tuesday they had arrested three people suspected of organizing a wedding with 150 participants in Beit Shemesh Tuesday night, breaking a Health Ministry order prohibiting mass-gatherings as part of the measures to stave off the spread of coronavirus
The suspects are a resident of Beit Shemesh in his 30s, a resident of East Jerusalem in his 50s, and a foreign national in his 40s who is suspected of organizing the event.