For the fourth straight day, Israel reached a new daily coronavirus case count after the Health Ministry announced Saturday evening that 8,687 new diagnoses since Friday afternoon, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 226,586.
Also reported were 16 additional virus-related deaths, raising the national death toll 1,441.
Out of the 67,628 patients currently battling the disease, 728 are in serious condition, with 200 connected to ventilators.
The ministry also reported that by Saturday evening, 23,387 coronavirus tests were conducted, putting the infection rate at 16.6%, meaning 1 in 6 tests positive.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday released a video urging Israeli Jews not to attend synagogue during Yom Kippur on Sunday and Monday.
He admitted that it appeared that reopening the entire country including the education system has been a mistake.
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Netanyahu opponents protest outside the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, May 24, 2020
(Photo: EPA)
"The decision to open the event halls was made too quickly, same with the school system," he said. "The populistic decisions to cancel the restrictions we, the government, implemented after cases began to climb was a mistake."
Knesset was due to reconvene Sunday in order to continue voting on the legal amendment to restrict the right to protest - ostensibly as part of coronavirus mitigation effort. Critics of the prime minister, have accused the government of taking advantage of the pandemic in order to stymie the months-long demonstrations outside Netanyahu's official Jerusalem residence over his handling of the crisis and his refusal to resign despite his corruption charges.