Death toll hits 6,830 as public hospitals announce they no longer have resources for new COVID patients. Some 670 already hospitalized patients listed in serious condition, with 108 on ventilators. Schools to begin vaccinating students if at least 50 parents give permission.
Ministers introduce a host of guidelines seeking to allow studies to resume while finding a balance between the needs of the economy and keeping the pandemic at bay.
"We have been left to our devices in the midst of this crisis,"Dr. Ofer Merin, the general director of the Jerusalem Shaare Zedek Medical Center says in special press conference.
Eligible Israelis will be able to get vaccinated by the end of this week. More than one million rapid test kits arrive in Israel to be used by schools ahead of the academic year. The Coronavirus Cabinet is set to convene on Sunday afternoon to discuss whether to open the school year on time.
As of Sunday morning, all Haredi cities in Israel were designated as "red," except for Beitar Ilit, which is designated "orange."
"If you go get vaccinated with a third shot, we will be able to avoid a fourth lockdown," says Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, as government extends its booster campaign for people over 40 to try to curb the Delta coronavirus variant.
The Delta variant is about twice as infectious as the original coronavirus strain and 60% more contagious than the Alpha variant.
Israel began administering third doses to people over 60 in July, later dropping the minimum age of eligibility to 50 and offering boosters to health workers and others.
Prime Minister visits vaccination center in Tayibe, urges Arab leadership to push vaccines. Number of patients hospitalized in serious condition tops 600. Maccabi Health Services study shows booster to be "highly effective" in preventing spread of virus, including Delta strain.
Researchers from the Weizmann Institute, France's Pasteur Institute, and the US National Institutes of Health have developed a novel treatment that targets a cell membrane that allows SARS-CoV-2 to enter.
