The Health Ministry reported Sunday night that 581 Israelis succumbed to complications of COVID-19 since the beginning of February.
Over the weekend alone, 63 COVID-19 patients have passed away in Israeli hospitals, but these figures may still change in the coming days.
Since the beginning of the year, 1,287 coronavirus patients have passed away — 30 daily fatalities on average — and 9,544 have lost their lives to the disease since the onset of the pandemic.
The number of confirmed daily cases climbed back over 20,000, with 21,262 Israelis testing positive for coronavirus by Sunday evening.
Since the beginning of the year, the country has recorded 2,036,773 virus cases, meaning that almost one in every four Israelis has contracted the virus over the last 44 days. These figures are believed to be higher as many were probably unaware of having contracted the virus or preferred not to report about a positive test.
The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in serious condition climbed to 1,056 after dropping under the millennium mark over the weekend. Of the gravely ill, 285 were connected to ventilators.
There are currently some 283,000 active coronavirus carriers in Israel, most of them either display mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.
Jerusalem is home to the most active cases with 18,431. The capital is then followed by Tel Aviv with 14,143 active cases, Haifa with 9,514, Be'er Sheva with 9,214 and Petah Tikva with 9,124.
Meanwhile, the national coronavirus vaccination campaign has completely collapsed, as only 21 Israelis have chosen to get their first vaccine dose on Saturday — a record daily low since the launch of the vaccine push. For comparison, 61 Israelis received their first shot the previous Saturday and 124 chose to do so the week beforehand.
Meanwhile, health officials announced on Sunday that Israel will take part in Pfizer's experiment for a dedicated vaccine against the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
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Woman receives her fourth dose of a coronavirus vaccine in Tel Mond
(Photo: Gettyimages)
The trial is expected to get underway at the end of February.
Talks have been ongoing between the American pharmaceutical giant and Israel's health officials to join the worldwide trials for a modified COVID vaccine adapted to prevent infection by the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The trial will be conducted at Sheba Medical Center, where volunteers over the age of 60, who had not been administered the fourth COVID jab are being recruited.