Four more people die of coronavirus, bringing Israeli toll to 276

Twenty-two new coronavirus cases were diagnosed in Israel on Monday, the Health Ministry reported in an evening statement, as the number of COVID-19 deaths rose.

Four people died during the day, bringing to the toll to 276. No new deaths had been reported Sunday night or Monday morning, keeping the death toll steady at 272 for several hours.

So far, 13,253 Israelis out of the 16,643 diagnosed have recovered. The number of active infections fell by 232 to 3,114. Of those who are sick, 52 people are in serious condition, 42 of whom are on ventilators.

Another 39 people are in moderate condition and the rest have mild symptoms.

Over the past day, 4,347 tests for the virus were carried out, the ministry said.

Israel has the lab capacity to test up to 15,000 people for coronavirus daily, but demand has gone down as fewer suspected cases show up to have swabs taken, the Health Ministry has said.

The number of new infections has slowed dramatically in recent weeks and the government has increasingly rolled back restrictions meant to curb the outbreak, aiming to fully reopen schools this week, after two months of closure.

Meanwhile, many businesses have been permitted to reopen and restrictions on public areas have been eased, though social distancing and face masks are still compulsory. More moves to remove restrictions are reportedly in the works.

However, violations have been reported across the country, including thousands of beach-goers who ignored the closure of the shores during unseasonably sweltering weather.