Israel recorded its highest number of daily coronavirus cases in almost two months on Monday, according to data released by the Health Ministry Tuesday morning, leading government officials to threaten imposing another lockdown on an increasingly exhausted public.
According to the Health Ministry, 1,837 new cases of the virus were diagnosed on Monday, bringing the total number of infections since the outset of the pandemic to 347,331.
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With over 67,000 tests administered in the past 24 hours, the percentage of tests returning positive stood at 2.8% on Monday, down from 3.2% on Sunday and 3.9% Saturday – although Monday's rate remains higher than the rate all last week, which rose to 2.5% Friday.
The decline in the percentage of positive tests comes as the number of tests conducted rose by more than 50%, rising from 42,040 tests on Sunday to 65,523 on Monday.
Israel's death toll throughout the pandemic stood at 2,924 as of Tuesday morning, with three new fatalities added on Monday.
Of the 13,949 currently active cases, 13,198 are being treated at home, with 189 more being treated at coronavirus hotels, and 562 being treated at hospitals.
Out of those, 315 are said to be in serious condition, including 102 patients in critical condition. At least 107 patients are on respirators.
On Monday evening, ministers in the coronavirus cabinet voted to impose a nightly curfew during the upcoming Hanukkah holiday and through January 2.
The three-week curfew will begin on Wednesday, a day before the holiday, pending approval from the Knesset. Other details have yet to be worked out.
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