For a third day in a row the coronavirus infection rate in the country has remained at above 3%, the Health Ministry said Monday morning.
The ministry said 1,230 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday after 37,638 tests had been conducted, putting the contagion rate at 3.3%. The infection rate stood at 3.4% and 3.9% on Saturday and Friday respectively.
At least 331 patients are in serious condition, of whom 112 are ventilated. The official death toll has increased to 2,917.
In the last seven days, 1,174 new cases have been diagnosed in Jerusalem, 289 in Nazareth, 230 in Haifa, 203 in Sakhnin, 182 in Tel Aviv-Yafo, 181 in Shefar'am, 163 in Petah Tikva, 142 in Umm al-Fahm, 133 in Tamra, 129 in Majdal Shams, 125 in Yafia, 121 in Rishon Lezion And 111 in Netanya.
In Jerusalem, the infection rate in the last seven days has remained on average at 3.9%, in Tel Aviv at 1%, in Haifa at 2.1%, in Petah Tikva at 1.6%, in Be'er Sheva at 0.9%, in Eilat at 0.2%, in Givat Shmuel at 0.1%, in Bnei Brak at 2.9%, in Nazareth at 9.4%, in Yafia at 9.6% and in Kfar Manda at whooping 10.4%.
In the meantime, the coronavirus cabinet was due to reconvene later in the day to decide on measures to curb the spread of the virus. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adjourned a three-hour meeting of the cabinet on Sunday, after ministers failed to reach an agreement on steps that must be taken ranging from full closure to less extreme mitigation moves.
Head of Public Health Services at the Health Ministry Dr. Sharon Elrai-Price said at the meeting that Israel's lockdown exit strategy cannot solely rely on vaccines, the first batches of which are supposed to arrive in Israel in the coming weeks.
She said that significant distribution of the vaccine, which has to be administered in two doses several weeks apart, will not begin before March, assuming the vaccine proves effective and the public cooperates.