Israel reported on Monday the tally of severely ill coronavirus cases continues to drop as the new rolled back Green Pass restrictions, limiting the mandate to "high-risk" events only, officially take effect.
From now on, the presentation of the digital health pass is only necessary in event halls, nightclubs, conference centers in which food is sold or served, and places that host cultural events without designated seating.
Obligation to present a Green Pass in all other places, including restaurants, theaters, and gyms, is now scrapped. In addition, the maximum capacity limitation in places under "Purple Pass" guidelines, has also been cancelled.
The new rules will remain in effect until March 1.
“Because Omicron also infects the vaccinated, the [Green] Pass has lost effectiveness in most places and we decided to reduce its use to only high-risk places. It is part of the trend of living with the virus,” Health Ministry Director General Nachman Ash told Army Radio.
Meanwhile, 52,600 Israelis have tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday after 212,865 tests were conducted, placing the infection rate at 28.16%.
The virus' reproduction number, R, continues to decrease as well and is currently at 0.84, indicating a decline in the community spread of the pathogen. The R number highlights the average number of secondary infections produced by a single virus carrier.
It was also reported that 2,812 patients are hospitalized around the country, of whom 1,235 people are in serious condition. Of that number, 293 are connected to ventilators.
Israel currently has 323,911 active COVID patients, and since January one in five Israelis caught the virus accounting for over 20% of the country's population.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, 9,180 people have succumbed to COVID-related complications, of whom 20 died on Sunday.
i24NEWS contributed to this report