Israel's current coronavirus infection rate stands at 5.75%, according to Health Ministry data released Monday. Of the 90,369 people who tested for the virus, Sunday, 5,001 were found to be infected with COVID-19.

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The country has 84,218 active cases of the virus. There are 677 people in serious condition, 157 of whom are on ventilators.

Although over 1,026,013 Israelis have recovered from the virus since the outbreak of the pandemic, 7,205 have succumbed to the disease.

According to a new report from the military's task force on the coronavirus, 50% of recent infections have been among Israelis aged 0 to 19, while Israelis aged 20 to 39 comprise 30% of all recent infections. The infection rate among those aged 40 to 59 stands at 15%.

In their report, task force members wrote that "alongside the optimistic signs of a certain slowing of morbidity, follow-up is necessary to see how the opening of the education system and gatherings over the holidays influence the situation and whether the trend of curbing the virus continues.

"In order to prevent a renewed uptick in serious illness and overcome the fourth wave, Israel must continue the actions taken by local authorities and the public, in particular, widespread vaccination for those eligible, mask-wearing in indoor spaces – including among the vaccinated and those who have recovered from the virus, maintaining quarantine, as well as close supervision of those returning from overseas," the task force said.

Tens of thousands of Israelis are expected to either receive a third dose of the vaccine or contract the virus in the coming weeks, the Kan public broadcaster reported Sunday. As a result, Health Ministry officials say the country will reach herd immunity as over 80% of the population will soon have some form of protection from the disease.

According to a separate Kan report, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has asked the Education Ministry to prepare to ask students to test for the virus every two weeks.

Later this month, Israel will present data from its extensive rollout of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to the US Food and Drug Administration, which is weighing White House plans to begin a booster drive in the United States.

Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of public health at the Health Ministry, said the FDA had asked the ministry to brief its advisors at a Sept. 17 meeting to deliberate a third booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine, and possibly others.

"We have been asked to come and present Israel's experience and our data so that we can truly help the whole world to learn," Alroy-Preis told Channel 12 News.

A week ago, Israel began offering a Pfizer COVID-19 booster to people as young as 12 in a campaign that began in July among seniors.

Officials have said the effectiveness of the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine waned five months after administration, making a booster necessary. A third dose, they said, restored the level of protection of the second shot.

US President Joe Biden had been expected to launch a campaign to administer 100 million booster shots on Sept. 20. But US vaccine makers other than Pfizer have lagged in seeking authorization for an additional dose.

Over 6 million Israelis have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Over 5.5 million have received two doses, and over 2.6 million have received three.

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Israel's infection rate stands at 7.9%, according to Health Ministry data released Thursday. The country broke its previous record for the highest number of daily infections as 11,187 of the 148,924 people who tested for the virus the previous day were found to have COVID-19.

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Israel has 90,058 active cases of the virus. There are 666 people in serious condition, 149 of whom are on ventilators.

On the inoculation front, over 5,995,700 Israelis have received at least one dose of the vaccine, over 5,494,200 have received two doses, and over 2,350,440 have received three doses.

While much has been said about the delta variant, a recently discovered variant identified in nine countries may prove to be even more infectious and vaccine-resistant.

According to a recent South African study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, the variant, known as C.1.2., has an unusually high mutation rate and may result in more severe morbidity than other variants.

Originally identified in South Africa, the variant has also been seen in Botswana, China, Congo, Britain, Mauritius, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland.

Infectious disease expert Richard Lessells, one of the researchers who contributed to the study, said the discovery of the C.1.2. variant was an indication "the pandemic is far from over."

Meanwhile, in a show of appreciation to those directly involved in the ongoing war on the pandemic, the Israeli government agreed to allot 55 million shekels (around $17.2 million) in grants toward medical workers and healthcare system employees directly involved in the fight against the coronavirus. Each recipient will receive a 1,000-shekel debit card to be used for entertainment, business, and recreation purposes inside Israel.

In a statement, Bennett said the grant "expresses the gratitude of the citizens of Israel for the medical teams in Israel. The medical teams are fighting at the forefront of the campaign against the coronavirus and have been doing holy work from the moment the crisis started. From the doctors and nurses to employees of the various healthcare providers, all of them have been working together around the clock to protect the health of the citizens of Israel. On behalf of the government and citizens of Israel, I would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to the teams. We will continue to fight the coronavirus and together we will win."

The move comes as medical workers at government-owned hospitals across the country protest a lack of funding during the pandemic. As part of these efforts, medical staff in operating rooms across the country were set to go on strike for two hours Monday.

With Israeli children heading back to school Wednesday, Barzilay Medical Center Director and former Health Ministry Director-General Hezi Levy said there were concerns infections would spike over the coming month.

"The return to school and the holidays could raise the infection [rate] in Israel. There won't be mass infections, but there could be an increase in morbidity. Of course, there is no need for a lockdown, but rather more caution from the public, i.e., adhering to Health Ministry restrictions on gatherings of over 50 people in closed spaces, mask-wearing, social distancing, quarantine for those exposed [to a confirmed coronavirus carrier], as well as vaccination. The state and the entire public need to boost vaccination as much as possible. That is the main thing that can help right now.

Noting there was an expectation infections would rise, Levy said: "If the public behaves according to the guidelines, then despite the return to school and the holidays, we won't see a very large outbreak."

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Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Shamoon College of Engineering and Afeka Tel Aviv Academic College of Engineering have developed an innovative method for the rapid determination of the identity and antibiotic sensitivity of bacterial pathogens in urinary tract infections (UTI) in patients, BGN Technologies – the university' technology transfer company – announced Tuesday.

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The novel method enables detection of bacterial pathogens directly from urine samples in 30-40 minutes. The technology combines measurements of the infrared spectrum of the infecting bacteria with machine learning algorithms, to enable the simultaneous determination of both bacterial type at the species level and bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics.

The method has been tested on over 1,000 urine samples and was able to discriminate between bacterial species with approximately 97% accuracy and determine bacterial susceptibility to various antibiotics with approximately 85% accuracy.

If left untreated or treated with ineffective antibiotics, UTIs can lead to complications such as permanent kidney damage and blood contamination. UTIs affect over 150 million people annually around the globe and is the most common outpatient infection in the US. In hospitals, UTIs account for 40% of all hospital-acquired infections

The inventors of the new method include Professors Mahmoud Huleihel and Shraga Segal, both from the Dept. of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Science at BGU; Prof. Ahmad Salman from Shamoon College of Engineering and Dr Itshak Lapidot from Afeka Tel Aviv Academic College of Engineering. BGN Technologies, the technology transfer company of BGU, has filed for patent protection and is now seeking a strategic partner for the further development and commercialization of this promising technology.

Huleihel, said, "The new technology offers a novel clinical decision-support tool for early and precise antibiotic recommendations, that will result in effective treatment. More broadly, our invention is timely, given the global emerging threat of antimicrobial resistance."

"This method for the identification of bacterial pathogens in UTI patients is an important and long-awaited solution for the management of UTI," said BGN Technologies CEO Josh Peleg.

"Currently, identification of the bacterial pathogen and its antibiotics sensitivity is labor intensive and can take up to three days, leading to treatment delays and potential complications. This novel solution can supply medical staff with results within 1 hour after collecting a urine sample, with very high accuracy and minimal effort. We are confident that this method has the potential to become a mainstay in hospitals and outpatient clinics alike," Peleg added.

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The number of new confirmed cases has spiked in recent weeks across the country, reflecting significant community spread in addition to the import of the virus from overseas, according to a new report from the Military Intelligence task force on the coronavirus.

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The report further found Israel has seen a 50% increase in the number of seriously ill over the past two weeks.

Israel recorded 343 new cases of the coronavirus, Sunday, for an infection rate of 0.7%. A total of 49,074 tests were carried out that day.

Although 833,993 Israelis have recovered from the virus, 6,428 have died.

There are currently 2,597 active cases of the virus, a record not seen since April 18. Thirty-five of those cases are serious. Of those in serious condition, 16 are on ventilators.

The coronavirus reproduction rate, meanwhile, has dropped to 1.41.

There are no longer any "red" cities according to the traffic-light system for ranking localities on their coronavirus infection rates. Eight localities are "orange" and 24 are "yellow" according to the system.

With infections on the rise, nursing homes are once again at the forefront of the government's concerns.

A senior Health Ministry official told Israel Hayom the health system was preparing to demand green pass restrictions limiting entry to the vaccinated or those who have recovered from the virus be reinstated at nursing homes and geriatric hospitals across the country.

The official said there would "meticulous adherence to mask-[wearing] and the green pass. Vaccinated people will enter and will be in touch with their parents."

Increased testing will be carried out on nursing home staff to thwart infection and contain any potential outbreak.

With the so-called coronavirus cabinet set to convene at the Prime Minister's Residence Tuesday night, Health Ministry officials are examining alternative solutions to help limit the virus' spread.

"We will come with proposals for restrictions or additional activities," a senior Health Ministry said, noting the challenge would be finding solutions that do not significantly harm the economy.

"These could be things that cost money, with the aim of avoiding a difficult blow to the population. For example, performing tests on unvaccinated children at the entrance to events." While the official noted this would not be simple "logistically and economically, it's preferable to restrictions."

Other possibilities include the return of the purple badge that would see unvaccinated people allowed entry to various facilities although with distancing guidelines in effect and caps on the number of attendees.

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Following a complaint filed by the Health Ministry, a 43-year-old resident of the central Israel city of Modiin was questioned by police on Thursday on suspicion of violating quarantine and spreading disease.

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The man is alleged to have sent his unvaccinated daughter to school upon returning to Israel from overseas, in violation of quarantine guidelines. The man's daughter, who was carrying the coronavirus, infected other students while at school.

With the majority of new cases arriving from overseas, coronavirus chief Nachman Ash said: "What's been happening at Ben-Gurion Airport throughout [the pandemic] is an attempt to strike a balance between the ability to exit and enter Israel and the ability to protect the public.

"We may require masks again," he said.

The move comes as a renewed coronavirus outbreak, tied largely to the country's education system, gains steam, with 138 new cases identified Thursday for an infection rate of 0.3%. Israel currently has 803 active cases, 27 of which are serious.

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The Health Ministry is mulling a decision to scrap the country's mask mandate as daily coronavirus cases continue to drop.

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Coronavirus chief Nachman Ash said the decision would likely only apply to outdoor activities. "Masks are much more important when we are in a crowd or inside a confined space," told the Ynet news site, Thursday.

Noting mask-wearing would remain mandatory throughout the Passover holiday, set to begin the evening of March 27, Ash said, "We are in good shape, but we have not yet" defeated the pandemic.

According to Health Ministry data released Friday, 830 of the 65,406 people who tested for the coronavirus were found to have COVID-19, Thursday, for an infection rate of 1.3%. This was the lowest rate since June 2020, although it marked a 0.2% increase from Wednesday when just 478 people tested positive for the virus.

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Thanks to Israel's vaccination campaign, the country has seen a massive decline in new infections since January, when the positive test rate reached over 10%, despite the prevalence of the highly infectious UK variant.

So far, 5,213,638 Israelis have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 4,690,678 have received both doses.

There are currently 11,708 active cases of the disease across the country, 470 of which are serious. Of those in serious condition, 212 are on ventilators.

Since the start of the outbreak, 831,228 Israelis have been infected with the coronavirus, 6,164 of whom have died.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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