The number of new infections with the coronavirus in Israel has climbed to its highest level since mid-October. As the country’s health ministry announced today, 1,227 new cases were registered within 24 hours.
More infections in one day were last reported on October 19 with 1,517. Of the more than 56,000 tests carried out, 2.2 percent were positive, the rate of positive tests had recently increased slightly.
In the nine-million-inhabitant country, the number of infections had risen sharply after a comparatively mild start of the pandemic in summer. The reason is, among other things, premature easing. In mid-September, the government imposed a second nationwide lockdown to prevent a collapse of the healthcare system. The numbers fell from more than 9,000 new infections per day to several hundred.
In mid-October, the government began to implement gradual easing. Recently, however, there was speculation about a new partial lockdown during the Jewish festival of lights Hanukkah in mid-December.
