Israel Sees 16 Coronavirus Deaths in 24 Hours, 763 New Cases

The Health Ministry reported on Sunday morning that another 16 coronavirus patients have died from various complication in the past 24 hours.

The Ministry said since midnight, five people have succumbed to the disease, bringing the country’s death toll to 597.

The ministry added that only 8,587 COVID-19 tests were conducted, as has been the case in recent weeks over Shabbos, leading to a relatively low number of new recorded cases, which stand at 763. The latest number puts the contagion rate at a still high rate of 8.8%.

There are 394 patients hospitalized in a serious condition, of which 118 are ventilated – the highest tally since the peak of the first wave of coronavirus in Israel in mid-April. The number of ventilated patients has seen a spike of 25% in the past nine days.

The number of active coronavirus patients currently ill with the disease stands at 24,433, bringing the number of people infected with the virus since the start of the outbreak to 82,515.

Meanwhile, the number of hospitalized patients is also the highest since the peak of the first wave and currently stands at 859.

Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital and Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Yerushalayim, and Ichilov Medical Center and Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv all reported their coronavirus wards have reached full capacity, even though they continue to accept more patients.