Israel saw 1,923 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, the Health Ministry said Sunday, indicating a positivity rate of 4.3% after 46,000 tests - a small decline from the 5.2% positivity rate registered Thursday.
The country's largest ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak saw a 26% increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases over the weekend, as the reproduction number (R) in the Haredi community inched closer to 1 - closing the gap with the rest of the country where the R number stood at 1.02 as of Sunday morning.
As of Sunday, there were 724 coronavirus patients hospitalized in Israel in serious condition, an increase of 10 from the previous day. Of that number, 210 people were on ventilators.
The total number of Israelis who have been infected by the virus exceeded 800,000 over the weekend, while the national COVID death toll reached 5,861.
Meanwhile, Israel on Sunday saw restaurants, cafés, cultural events and businesses re-open under certain regulations as the country moved further out of restrictions imposed during its third lockdown that began in December.
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Patrons sit and take away food and drinks from a Tel Aviv cafe as Israel further the eases coronavirus restrictions, March 7, 2021
(Photo: Reuters)
Meeting late Saturday, ministers also decided to ease restrictions on travel to and from Israel, allowing up to 1,000 people to enter the country - a number that is expected to grow to 3,000 later in the week.
Arrivals will no longer be required to isolate in coronavirus hotels and can do so at home, despite the fact that electronic monitoring for quarantining Israelis does not accommodate the number of travelers entering the country.
Israelis who received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine or those who have recovered from the virus can now leave the country without the need to obtain permission to do so.