As Israel's health maintenance organizations are getting ready to roll out the national coronavirus vaccination campagin, the Health Ministry has warned of an alarming increase in coronavirus infections, especially in the ultra-Orthodox sector.
The ministry said Sunday that its labs have noted an increase in the number of Israelis testing positive for the virus: some 1,288 of the 44,810 tests taken over the weekend came back positive, setting the current infection rate at 2.9%.
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There are currently 17,339 active coronavirus cases in Israel, with 614 patients hospitalized. Of them, 321 patients are in serious condition and 128 are on ventilators.
Some 2,990 Israelis have died from COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic in mid-March.
Also on Saturday, the Health Ministry reported noting a significant increase in coronavirus infections in the ultra-Orthodox sector. More than 250 new cases were identified in the community over the weekend, 100 of them in Jerusalem alone.
"The increase is troubling in light of the stabilizing trend the sector has shown in recent weeks," one Health Ministry official said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced that while the rollout of the vaccines has been set for Dec. 27, it may begin as early as next week.
Netanyahu and Edelstein visited Sunday the Maccabi HMO vaccination center and said they believe that the HMOs ability to carry out the vaccination task means they can "probably advance the date of the beginning of the vaccine distribution."
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