Over 9,000 New Cases for Third Day in a Row

The Health Ministry said on Thursday that over 9,000 new daily coronavirus cases were detected for the third day in a row.

9,388 people tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday after some 127,768 tests had been conducted, putting the contagion rate at 7.9%.

Of the 78,215 active coronavirus patients in Israel, 1,834 are currently hospitalized. At least 1,063 are in serious condition, of whom 273 are ventilated.

The official death toll now stands at 3,826 after 33 more Israelis succumbed to virus-related complications on Wednesday. Since the start of January, 484 patients have passed away, compared to 481 in the entire month of December.

Due to the surge in cases and the amount of seriously ill in hospitals, the Health Ministry said it would request a one-week extension of the full lockdown that has been in effect since Thursday last week and is set to end this coming Sunday.

The ministry has also said that any exit strategy would not happen all at once, but would be done in stages, beginning with the opening of schools.

Nearly two million people have already received their first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine and over 100,000 have completed two doses and should be immune to the virus within the week.