Israel Overtakes China … With Coronavirus Cases

Israel has overtaken China when it comes to the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, after surpassing 85,000 cases since the start of the outbreak in the country, the Health Ministry said Tuesday.

The Health Ministry reported that on Monday another 1,641 people tested positive, bringing the number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic to 85,354. The number of active patients currently ill with the disease now stands at 24,714.

Though it has more reported cases of infections, Israel is well behind China when it comes to coronavirus deaths, with 619 compared to 4,634 confirmed deaths in China.

22,833 tests had been carried out on Monday, putting the contagion rate at 7%, indicating a slight stabilization of the spread of the virus.

381 patients are listed in serious condition, of which 110 are ventilated. Another seven people passed away from coronavirus-related complications since midnight, bringing the overall death toll to 619.

On Monday, health officials said that Yerushalayim is still the city with the highest number of new coronavirus cases, with 1,708 diagnoses reported over the past week.

The capital is followed by Bnei Brak with 730 new cases in the last week, Modi’in Illit with 592, Ashdod with 334 and Tel Aviv with 301.

The Druze village of Yarka in northern Israel, which has a population of just 16,747, emerged as the latest coronavirus hotspot, with 175 new cases reported over the past week. Until August, only 23 cases had been recorded in the village.