Israel's coronavirus infection rate stands at 1.63%, according to Health Ministry data. Of the 46,714 people who tested for the virus Saturday, 734 were found to have COVID-19.
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For the first time in months, Israel has fewer than 20,000 active cases of the virus. There are currently 19,587 active cases. There are 388 Israelis in serious condition, 157 of whom are on ventilators. Among those in serious condition, 72%, 280 people, are unvaccinated.
Although 1,288,075 Israelis have recovered from the virus since the outbreak of the pandemic, 7,983 have died.
On the inoculation front, 3,831,747 Israelis have received all three available doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Over 6 million Israelis – 6,201,766 – have received at least one dose of, while 65,698,137 have received two doses of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, officials in Melbourne, which has spent more time under COVID-19 lockdowns than any other city in the world, said Sunday the municipality was set to lift its stay-at-home orders this week.
By Friday, when some curbs will be lifted, the Australian city of 5 million people will have been under six lockdowns totaling 262 days, or nearly nine months, since March 2020.
Australian and other media say this is the longest in the world, exceeding a 234-day lockdown in Buenos Aires.
Australia, once a champion of a COVID-zero strategy of managing the pandemic, has been moving toward living with the virus through extensive vaccinations, as the Delta variant has proven too transmissible to suppress.
The new strategy makes lockdowns highly unlikely once 80% of the population is fully vaccinated. As of the weekend, around 68% of eligible Australians have been fully inoculated.
Australia's health officials said on Sunday that quarantine-free travel from New Zealand's South Island, where there is no outbreak, will resume on Wednesday.
New Zealand vaccinated at least 2.5% of its people on Saturday as the government tries to accelerate inoculations and live with COVID-19, preliminary health ministry data showed.
Through an array of strategies, gimmicks, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's encouragement throughout the day, 124,669 shots were administered by late in the day in a country of 4.9 million.
New Zealand had stayed largely virus-free for most of the pandemic until an outbreak of the Delta variant in mid-August. The government now aims to have the country live with COVID-19 through higher inoculations.
It has been in lockdown since mid-August to stamp out the Delta outbreak. Officials plan to end the strict restrictions when full vaccination rates reach 90%.
As of Friday, 62% of New Zealand's eligible population had been fully vaccinated and 83% had received one shot.
In the US, meanwhile, police departments requiring officers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are running up against pockets of resistance that some fear could leave law enforcement shorthanded and undermine public safety.
Police unions and officers are pushing back by filing lawsuits to block the mandates. In Chicago, the head of the police union called on members to defy the city's Friday deadline for reporting their COVID-19 vaccination status.
Seattle's police department sent detectives and non-patrol officers to emergency calls this week because of a shortage of patrol officers that union leaders fear will become worse because of vaccine mandates.
The standoffs are playing out at a time when many police departments already are dealing with surging homicide rates and staff shortages unrelated to the vaccine. Cities and police leaders are now weighing the risk of losing more officers to resignations, firings, or suspensions over their refusal to get vaccinated.
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