Israel has seen 1,326 new coronavirus cases since midnight, the Health Ministry said Wednesday evening, as the number of seriously ill patients rose to a new record.
The number of seriously ill cases has increased to a new record of 273, up by 20 since Tuesday, while there are 78 people on ventilators, the ministry said.
The rise in seriously ill cases is causing some alarm, as it has increased almost seven-fold since June 23, when it stood at just 40.
A total of 55,695 people in Israel have been infected since the start of the pandemic, with 32,060 currently battling the virus - another record high - and 23,205 having recovered.
The death toll from COVID-19 remains unchanged since Wednesday morning at 430.
Israel has conducted 16,380 tests for the virus since midnight, with a positive rate of 9.1% or one in 11 people tested, another new high.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein warned earlier this month that if Israel reaches 2,000 confirmed coronavirus cases a day, authorities may have to resort to a second general lockdown in order to contain the spread of the pathogen.
The country's major virus hotspots in the past seven days were Jerusalem with 1,794 new confirmed cases, followed by Bnei Brak and Beitar Illit with 962 and 487 news cases, respectively.
Tel Aviv saw 467 new cases, Beit Shemesh had 414 and Petah Tikva 344.