1,479 New Coronavirus Cases in Israel, With 3.7% Infection Rate

Israel posted under 1,500 new coronavirus cases on Monday with the contagion rate now standing at 3.7%, the Health Ministry said Tuesday morning.

The ministry said that on Monday 41,722 coronavirus tests had been conducted, of which 1,479 returned positive.

The number of serious patients is down, and stands at 636, of whom 233 are ventilated. The official death toll has increased to 2,268.

The tally of active patients currently ill with the disease now stands at 23,347, much lower than nearly 68,000 that was recorded at the start of October.

In the last seven days, 1,361 new infections were reported in Yerushalayim, 657 in Bnei Brak, 259 in Modi’in Illit, 275 in Ashdod, 317 in Tel Aviv-Yafo, 159 in Netanya, 187 in Petach Tikva and 195 in Beit Shemesh.

On Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu once again called the nationwide lockdown a success.

“We were at 9,000 infected per day, and dropped below 1,000. We were at 19.5% positive per day, and now we are at 3.5%,” he said. “I do not want to say that there are no problems. There are problems. We must come out of the lockdown in a gradual and responsible manner,” he added.