Health Ministry chief: Virus rate above what we set to further ease restrictions

Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levi says Israel’s virus reproduction rate stands at 1.06 — higher than the amount set by officials to enable further easing of restrictions.

Any number over 1 means the virus’s spread in the population is growing.

Levi says that out of some 60,000 tests yesterday, 1.8 percent came back positive.

“Vaccines will arrive in the first and second quarter of 2021, and perhaps there will be a first batch in December,” Levi says.

“We will bring to Israel [only] vaccines that have all been rigorously tested,” he adds.

Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy during a press conference in Jerusalem about the coronavirus on July 13, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Levi warns against further moves to ease restrictions, including the opening of malls and markets, which he says “without a doubt may cause morbidity to rise.”

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