A total of 52,059 coronavirus tests processed on Monday resulted in 5,647 confirmed cases, a 10.8% positive rate, the Health Ministry reported Tuesday morning. This number includes tests to determine whether existing patients had recovered.
The number of hospitalized patients listed in serious condition remained steady as of 7 a.m. at 875, 220 of whom were on ventilators.
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Since the start of the COVID epidemic in Israel, 1,757 people have died of the virus, up from 1,749 on Monday evening. A total of 273,826 Israelis have contracted the virus, and 208,763 have recovered.
As of Tuesday, there were 63,305 active of symptomatic cases.
The epidemic continues to take a heavy toll on medical workers, with 2,513 in quarantine, including 234 doctors and 602 nurses. As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, there were a record 2,040 confirmed cased among medical workers.
According to the National Coronavirus Knowledge and Information Center, the number of new confirmed cases per day based on population size remains one of the highest in the world.
"In the past few days we have begun to see a certain drop in the percentage of positive coronavirus tests. However, the current number, around 11%, is still very high and indicative of much more widespread infection than has been identified.
"Several more days are needed before we can state that there is clear trend, and in any people should keep in mind that the average daily infection rate this past week is much higher (more than 10 times) than what will allow Israel to effectively cut off outbreaks," the center announced.
Meanwhile, the Corona cabinet met on Monday and voted to extend the existing lockdown restrictions until next Wednesday.
National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat, national coronavirus coordinator Professor Ronni Gamzu, and a number of experts all said that it was hard to reach evidence-based conclusions about the number of cases due to the expected effects of Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he did not intend to ease or step up the restriction until next Monday, Oct. 12.
On Wednesday, the cabinet is due to convene again and receive an update about the COVID situation, with data about the number of cases and travel.
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