The Health Ministry said Thursday that the number of Israelis testing positive for the coronavirus has shown another decrease, indicating that the outbreak racing across Israel over the past few weeks was slowing down.
Israel has so far recorded 283,532 corona cases, including 1,846 deaths. Currently, 847 patients are said to be in serious condition, while 220,046 Israelis have recovered from the disease.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Data shows that of the 45,317 tests screened on Wednesday, just 9.1% were positive – making for the lowest number seen since Sept. 16.
Ministry figures also showed that there had been no new deaths overnight, and the number of patients in serious condition had dropped below 850 for the first time since Oct. 4.
Health officials said the numbers were cause for "cautious optimism" but maintain that the lockdown will remain in place until at least mid-October, warning the trend could easily reverse.
Also on Thursday, the ministry released the results of a national serological survey conducted between July and September 2020 with the aim of assessing the presence of coronavirus antibodies in the Israeli population.
The survey sampled 55,000 Israelis of various sexes, ages and religions nationwide, and showed that about 5.5% of the population has developed antibodies to the virus.
"Israel is one of the first countries in the world to conduct a national serological survey," said Health Minister Yuli Edelstein. "The survey is part of the Health Ministry's efforts to find more innovative methods to test for coronavirus."
The survey also found that a higher percentage of men (4.9%) than women (3.1%) have been exposed to the virus. Some 8.1% of children between the ages of 10 and 18 have been infected.
A breakdown of the data shows that Jerusalem had the highest number of sick people (9.5%), which coincides with the capital having the highest number of known patients throughout the pandemic.
Some 2.2% of Tel Avivians were infected, as were 1.1% of Haifa residents. In northern Israel, the survey pegged the number of infections at 1.9% of the area's residents.
More Jewish than non-Jewish people have contracted corona: 3.6% in Jewish localities versus 2.1% in non-Jewish ones. The disease was five-times more prevalent in ultra-Orthodox communities, the data showed.
In a statement, the Health Ministry stressed that Israel "is far from herd immunity," based on these statistics.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
