Health Minister Yuli Edelstein warned Tuesday that the ongoing rise in corona morbidity might force the government to impose a third lockdown, saying, "There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a third outbreak. We wasted precious time and morbidity rates leave no choice but to declare a lockdown."
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The Health Ministry said Tuesday that 3,594 Israelis tested positive for coronavirus over the past 24 hours, with 4.2% of tests returning positive.
Israel has recorded 380,095 coronavirus cases since the pandemic erupted in mid-March, including 3,111 deaths. Some 349,356 Israelis have recovered from the disease.
The Health Ministry has been warning that public flouting of social distancing and quarantine directives is one of the causes for the spike in infection rates.
On Tuesday, Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Elrai-Price told the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee that two-thirds of Israelis do not observe home-isolation properly.
"The main threat to the public at this time is that about 66% [of those ordered] do not observe self-isolation."
Commenting on the new COVID-19 mutation discovered in the UK, she said, "We have to be very careful when a new agent that could threatens public health is introduced – we see a 70% spike in infection where it was found.
"There is no indication at this time that the mutation has arrived in Israel," she stressed, adding the Health Ministry was closely monitoring the situation.
On Monday, Edelstein said that 10 vaccination centers will begin operating in Israel's periphery areas by the end of the week.
"The residents of Kiryat Gat and Safed deserve to receive a vaccination no less than the residents of Tel Aviv and Herzliya," he asserted.
The ministry plans to open immunization centers in Nahariya, Kiryat Gat, Karmiel, Eilat, Dimona, Arad, Safed, Kiryat Shmona, Shfaram and Sderot.
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