Health Min.: 714 New Coronavirus Cases in One Day

On Tuesday morning, the Health Ministry said that 714 new infections were recorded in a 24-hour period, with the county now having over 7,000 active case – the first time since end of April.

On Monday, the Cabinet imposed new restrictions on public gatherings, as part of measures to stem the rising infection rate of the coronavirus. The goal of the rules is to avoid a general shutdown via limitations that will hopefully ensure a steady, predictable infection rate that won’t overload the country’s health-care system, government officials said.

The main restrictions approved late Monday apply to event halls and public gatherings, which have been seeing a steady return of business. The new restrictions require approval by the Knesset House Committee. A vote is to be held on them in the next day or two.

Among schools, the number of students and staff ill with the virus stood at 1,027, out of some 2,300,000 students and 200,000 education staff. A total of 268 schools have been shut down, out of some 5,200 schools and 20,000 nursery schools.

In Bnei Brak there are 555 active cases of coronavirus, 294 of which are new cases, tested last week. In Yerushalayim, there are 756 active cases, 424 of which were added on last week.

Beitar Ilit has 79 active cases, 43 of which were diagnosed recently; and Beit Shemesh has 95 cases, 48 of which were added on last week.

Modi’in Ilit has 58 active cases, 33 of which were diagnosed last week. In Kiryat Ye’arim (Telshe Stone), there are ten active cases, 4 of which were added on last week. In Ashdod’s chareidi neighborhoods there has also been an increase. The number of infected there stands at 348, 256 of whom were tested in recent days.

“I can’t promise that there won’t be a general closure,” Finance Minister Yisrael Katz said, “but I’ll do everything I can to prevent it. A general closure would be a disaster for the economy.”

The minister’s comments were made on Army Radio on Tuesday morning, just as the Health Ministry reported 714 new cases in 24 hours. This figure surpassed the daily tallies of the past month, which were on the rise.

Active cases soared to 7,096, 46 of whom were in serious condition, 24 of them on ventilators.