The Health Ministry reported Wednesday evening that 634 Israelis have tested positive for coronavirus out of 13,283 tests conducted that day, meaning 4.8% of all tests returned positive, an exceptionally high percentage of positive results.
Since the beginning of the week, 2,541 new coronavirus patients have been diagnosed - twice as many during the entire month of May (1,223).
There are currently 8,271 Israelis battling the virus, the highest number of active patients since April 26.
However, only 3% percent of active patients are hospitalized (245), 58 of them are in serious conditions and 25 patients are on ventilators.
One Israeli has succumbed to complications of COVID-19, bringing the nation's virus fatalities to 321.
The southern city of Ashdod, where 78 new patients were diagnosed with the virus since Tuesday evening, continues to constitute one of the nation's major outbreak locations.
The Health Ministry said 150 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the city since Sunday, followed only by Jerusalem, with 180 new cases since the start of the week. Ashdod has effectively knocked Bnei Brak off the second spot in the list of cities with the highest infection rate. The ultra-Orthodox city reported 135 new diagnoses since Sunday.
In Tel Aviv, 96 new cases were reported, while 43 people have tested positive for the pathogen in Bat Yam since Sunday. In the southern city of Dimona, 55 people were diagnosed with the virus.