Israel closes in on 1,000 COVID deaths as 2,516 cases confirmed in 24 hours

Israel closed in on a grim landmark of 1,000 coronavirus deaths on Friday as five more Israelis died, bringing the country’s death toll since the start of the pandemic to 993.

The number of total cases climbed by 2,516 over the past 24 hours, according to Health Ministry figures updated Friday evening.

Nine more patients were added to the list of seriously ill since Thursday night, bringing the total number to 426, with 123 of them on ventilators. Another 124 people were in moderate condition and the rest had mild or no symptoms.

But as cases continued to rise, Friday figures showed that 100,357 Israelis have recovered from the virus.

The Health Ministry said 35,351 tests for coronavirus were administered Thursday and that eight percent of those processed came back positive — a slight drop from Thursday’s number, which stood at over 9%.

Earlier Friday, Health Ministry director-general Chezy Levy told Kan public radio that the potential reimposition of a nationwide lockdown was still on the table.

Also Friday, the government’s coronavirus czar Prof. Ronni Gamzu clarified that the sweeping new restrictions approved Thursday by the so-called coronavirus cabinet in “red” localities with high infection rates would not include full lockdown measures in all these areas.

“The proposal yesterday in the cabinet was for the imposition of a lockdown in eight cities with particularly high morbidity and the imposition of restrictions on movement in the rest of the red cities,” he said in a statement quoted by Channel l2 news.

However, he stressed the lockdown measures could be expanded to other areas and said a final decision would be made over the weekend and approved by ministers on Sunday. The new restrictions are set to take effect on Monday.

The measures under discussion for “red” cities include banning entry and exit, keeping residents within 500 meters of their homes, stopping public transportation, and closing non-essential businesses and all schools save for daycare facilities and special education programs.

Though there is no official word yet on which cities will be locked down, the 30 cities and towns currently designated as “red” are: Nazareth, Bnei Brak, Tiberias, Abu Snan, Umm al-Fahm, Elad, Aabalin, Buqata, Beit Jann, Jaljulya, Jatt, Daliyat al-Karmel, Zemer, Taibe, Tira, Kasra-Samia, Ka’abiyye-Tabbash-Hajajre, Kafr Bara, Kafr Kanna, Kafr Qassem, Lakiya, Sheikh Danun, Maale Iron, Ein Mahil, Assafiya, Arara, Fureidis, Qalansawe, Rechasim and Kfar Aza.

Many of the towns are predominantly ultra-Orthodox and Arab, two segments of the population that have been hit hard by the virus.

While a nationwide lockdown during the High Holiday period beginning September 18 was supposed to be discussed during Thursday’s meeting of the coronavirus cabinet, according to reports, a decision is only expected to be made in a week or so.

Also during Thursday’s coronavirus cabinet meeting, ministers were presented with research predicting hospitals could be overwhelmed within two weeks as the number of virus cases creeps upward.

According to figures aired Thursday by Israeli television, Israel has the highest rate of new infections per capita in the world.