The Health Ministry reported on Tuesday evening that Israel's coronavirus infection rate has dropped below 2% for the first time in weeks.
Health authorities have conducted over 26,000 coronavirus tests since midnight Tuesday and found 480 new cases, meaning 1.8% of all test results came back positive.
There are currently 464 coronavirus patients in serious condition receiving treatment across the country's hospitals, 196 of them are on ventilators.
Eight Israelis have succumbed to complications from COVID-19 since midnight, bringing the country's total virus-related death toll to 2,463 fatalities.
Jerusalem has reported the most coronavirus infections in the last 7 days with 784 new cases. The capital is then followed by Bnei Brak with 209 new cases, Ashdod with 151, Tel Aviv with 135 and Modi'in Illit with 115.
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Health official tends to coronavirus patient at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon
(Photo: AFP)
Meanwhile, ahead of a partial reopening of the education system on November 1, the Health Ministry on Tuesday called on all teaching staff to get tested for COVID-19 at specially designated centers, in what health officials call "Operation Education Shield".
The so-called coronavirus cabinet, which leads the government's response to the pandemic, voted on Monday to reopen schools for grades one through four on a three-day-a-week footing and the rest of the studies being conducted remotely.