New daily virus cases continues to climb, death toll reaches 2,700

The number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus on Wednesday reached its highest daily value in over a week with 734 new patients, according to Health Ministry figures.

The last time the figure was that high was on November 4, when 767 people were diagnosed.

A Thursday update showed that the death toll had climbed to 2,700.

There were 8,105 active patients, with 312 of them seriously ill. The Health Ministry said 158 patients were in critical condition and 137 on ventilators.

Out of 38,722 virus test results returned Wednesday, 1.9 percent were positive, slightly up from the 1.6% recorded out of 40,384 test results on Tuesday. The numbers were nonetheless an improvement over levels of over 2% seen earlier in the week.

Since the start of the outbreak earlier this year, 321,684 people in Israel have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told Army Radio that the government is mulling evening curfews as one way to bring virus cases back down and that a decision will be made in the coming days.

There has been a flurry of interest in Israel after the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced on Monday that its vaccine, in Phase 3 trials, was showing a 90% success rate. The US Federal Drug Administration demands just 50% success rate for a potential virus vaccine.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla twice overnight Wednesday in an effort to push through a deal to buy millions of vaccine units. The Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday that a purchase could be agreed upon in the coming days.

A drop in the number of new daily cases, achieved during the ongoing national lockdown, has recently leveled off amid a gradual reopening, leading Netanyahu and health officials to warn that if the numbers begin to climb there will be no further easing of restrictions.

Israel sharply brought down its daily coronavirus infection rates from some 8,000 in mid-September to several hundred by late October with the nationwide lockdown, its second since the start of the pandemic. It has remained stubbornly above 500 a day, though, on most days with 30,000 tests or more.

The lockdown paralyzed much of public life and the economy and shuttered the entire education system. The government began removing some restrictions a few weeks ago, opening preschools and kindergartens, then grades 1-4, as well permitting some street-front businesses to begin operations. The rest of the education system has continued with remote learning.