The IDF has purchases hundreds of telehealth kits from Israeli high-tech TytoCare for use in arranging home hospitalization for COVID-19 patients listed in mild to moderate condition, thus easing the burden on Israel's hospitals.

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The kits, produced by TytoCare, function as a modular device and examination platform for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered, remote medical exams and now offer expanded video capabilities that enable users to perform remote physical exams of the heart, skin, ears, throat, abdomen, and lungs, as well as measure blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and body temperature, all of which are key for monitoring COVID-19 and many other chronic and acute conditions.

Powered by Amazon Chime, the new video features include enhanced video quality, multi-party calls, and the ability for clinicians to conduct remote visits on any tablet, including iPads.

TytoCare co-founder and CEO Dedi Gilad said his company was "proud to be partners in the Israeli healthcare system's national effort to handle COVID cases and make it easier for patients whose condition allows them to stay at home, with remote medical monitoring.

"We thank the IDF and the Defense Ministry for their faith in Tyto's telehealth solution," Gilad said.

The health tech development comes after Israel marked on Monday a grim milestone, with the number of total COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic in early 2020 reaching 8,010.

Despite mounting mortality, the percentage of COVID tests yielding positive results in the past 24-hour period was the lowest since July, with only 1,483 of the 108,692 tests processed (1.42%) coming back positive, the Health Ministry reported Tuesday.

As of Tuesday morning, there were 360 COVID-19 patients listed in serious condition, of whom 161 were on ventilators. The virus reproduction rate held steady at 0.78.

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Over 3.85 million Israelis have received two doses of the COVID vaccine as well as a booster shot. On Monday, 9,834 Israelis received booster shots after 12,614 received boosters on Sunday. Healthcare officials consider this a slow rate of vaccination and warned that it would limit the number of Israelis entitled to a green pass certificate of vaccination, as well as exposing greater numbers of people to reinfection this coming winter.

Over 5.7 million Israelis have been vaccinated with two doses.

Since the COVID pandemic hit Israel, the country has recorded an official 1,318,478 cases.

Meanwhile, Israel might consider allowing foreign visitors who have been vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine into the country without a mandatory quarantine – providing they show proof of an antibody test, Kan 11 News reported.

i24NEWS contributed to this report

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The COVID picture in Israel continued to improve on Friday, with 1,225 new cases identified in the last 24 hours, 1.9% of the total 63,420 tests processed in that time period.

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The reproduction rate was also down, standing at 0.66 – meaning that a single confirmed carrier infects 0.66 other people – compared to 0.68 on Thursday.

As of Friday, there were 863 patients hospitalized for COVID. Among these, 558 were listed in serious condition, including 244 in critical condition and 206 on ventilators.

The number of Israelis to have received the first dose of the COVID vaccine stood at 5.1 million, or 55.39% of the population. A total of 4,480,810 Israelis (48.18% of the population) have received both doses.

Since the COVID pandemic hit Israel in early 2020, a total of 826,217 Israelis have contracted the virus. The death toll as of Friday was 6,071, after six more patients succumbed to the disease on Thursday and one early Friday.

The encouraging data comes after the Corona cabinet on Thursday approved bigger crowds for sporting and cultural events. Games, cultural events, and conferences can be held with audiences of up to 3,000 people in closed venues and up to 5,000 in the open air.

However, event venues, dining halls, and restaurants are still limited to 500 people in the open air or 300 in enclosed spaces.

Tourist attractions that comply with Health Ministry regulations will be allowed to host up to 2,500 people at one time.

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