A total of 34,102 coronavirus tests carried out in the 24-hour period from Thursday to Friday morning have identified 560 new cases, the Health Ministry reported Friday morning.
Meanwhile, the number of active or symptomatic COVID cases in Israel continues to drop, and stood at 8,958.
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The vast majority of the symptomatic cases – 8,123 – were being treated at home, with 286 patients in coronavirus hotel facilities and 549 in hospitals nationwide. Of the hospitalized patients, 327 were listed in serious condition, including 147 who were on ventilators.
The death toll since the start of the pandemic was unchanged on Friday morning, standing at 2,639.
A total 318,111 Israelis have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic, and 306,514 have recovered from it.
On Friday morning, 600 medical workers were in quarantine: 85 doctors, 166 nurses, and 349 members of other medical professions.
Elsewhere, the World Health Organization in Europe warned Thursday that Europe was on the precipice of an explosion of coronavirus cases and that the continent should expect a sharp rise in the mortality rate.
"We do see an explosion... in the sense, it only takes a couple of days to have over the European region an increase of one million cases," WHO's regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said.
Kluge said that the mortality rate is rising "little by little," speculating that Europe will have a "tough time" with the disease as it heads into winter.
"It's going to be a little bit of a tough time, we need to be honest on that," he said.
In spite of the rapidly rising cases, Kluge cautioned that closing schools should be seen as a last resort, especially in light of there being "no reasons to say that schools are a main driver of the transmission."
"We need to keep the schools open really until last because we cannot afford a Covid-19 lost generation," Kluge said.
However, the regional director also said that the "status quo is not an option" and called for "proportionate targeted measures," which could be scaled up.
Kluge stressed that governments should take into account two things: "coherence, so people see that we don't flip-flop, and... predictability, so people know if this threshold is being reached, this is what is going to happen."
He also called for the widespread use of face masks.
Part of this article was first published by i24NEWS.
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