Health experts expressed cautious optimism that Israel's fourth coroanvirus infection wave may be subsiding as the Health Ministry reported the country's lowest infection rate in over two weeks on Sunday.
With just 4,975 new virus cases detected out of 87,744 carried out the previous day, the positivity rate stood at 5.76%
In comparison, these figures stood at 8.42% and 6.91% on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Israeli hospitals were treating 679 COVID-19 patients in serious condition, 143 of whom were connected to ventilators.
Among those severely ill and over the age of 60, 218 were unvaccinated and 210 others were doubly dosed.
So far, 2,581,893 Israelis have received their coronavirus vaccine booster shot.
The national COVID-19 death toll rose by another seven on Saturday and reached 7,154 fatalities.
Last week was one of the deadliest since the onset of the pandemic in Israel as 157 people succumbed to the virus, 32 of whom on Wednesday alone — the highest single-day leap in fatalities since February.
Prof. Eran Segal, a scientist advising the government on its pandemic response and creator of the Weizmann Institute of Science's coronavirus prediction model, told Ynet on Sunday that Israel has managed to overcome the current infection wave as data show a slow in the pandemic's spread throughout the country.
"Today's numbers exhibit this — now we have to brave through the upcoming High Holidays and the yearly pilgrimage to Uman," he said.