As Israel prepares to enter its second lockdown on erev Rosh Hashanah, it continues to experience a high rate of daily coronavirus cases, with the Health Ministry confirming 3,182 cases on Monday morning in the previous 24 hours, a rise in the percentage of positive cases – 9.4% of all tests. There are currently 40,347 active virus cases, with over a thousand patients currently hospitalized, with 529 seriously ill, of whom 135 are ventilated. The death toll has risen to 1,126. Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy hinted on Monday morning that the nationwide lockdown could be extended even longer than three weeks if the number of daily coronavirus cases fail to drop to a low enough number during that time. Levy, speaking on Reshet Bet, said that the lockdown may be eased when the number of daily coronavirus cases decreases to below 1,000 a day but added that no final decisions have been made yet. Daily coronavirus cases have been surpassing 4,000 in recent days, with the exception of Sunday and Monday, when lower numbers are recorded due to the lower number of tests performed over the weekend. “We would like to get down to 500 cases a day, but it’s clear that’s not going to happen at this time,” Levy said. “If we see a reduction to below 1,000 patients, and appropriate behavior [from the public], and a downward trend in infection rate along with a stabilization of the hospital system, those will be positive signs to consider ending the lockdown. We will finalize the criteria in the coming days.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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