After showing signs of abating, the Delta variant wave seems to be on the rise in Israel again. The Health Ministry reported Tuesday that of the 145,868 Israelis it screened for the virus the day before, 10,947 (7.65%) tested positive, compared to the weekend, when an average of 8,000 Israelis were found to carry the virus.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
There are 83,542 active cases in the country, with 1,122 Israelis hospitalized. Of those, 217 are in critical condition and 172 are on ventilators. according to the Health Ministry.
Israel has reported 1,066,352 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. Thus far, 7,043 Israelis have lost their lives to the virus, 526 of them in August alone.
Meanwhile, the Coronavirus cabinet approved new restrictions on Monday, including limiting the number of worshipers for Selichot prayers at the Western Wall to 8,000 participants.
The prayers, which have already begun at the Western Wall Plaza, are chanted nightly during the Hebrew month of Elul leading up to the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The cabinet also decided to divide worshipers into 18 sections with the obligation to wear a mask outdoors.
The "green pass" vaccination certificate was expanded to include health, education and welfare employees with possible expansion to other areas of the workforce to be considered at a later date.
Meanwhile, with the new school year set to begin on September 1, classes with less than 70% of partially vaccinated students will be required to study online. By September 30, at least 70% or more of students must be fully inoculated to attend school physically. The vaccine decision applies to eighth to twelfth graders in "red cities" with high infection rates.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
In further attempts to quell the Delta wave, the government was also considering offering financial incentives to national health funds for encouraging vaccinations.
Within the framework of the plan, the Health Ministry intends to transfer as much as NIS 24 million ׂ(around $7.5 million) to health funds based on the number of Israelis they inoculate, the number of their vaccination centers, and efforts dedicated to bringing more people to get vaccinated.
Efforts are currently being aimed at Israelis over the age of 60. Since Israel launched its booster shot campaign, 2,157,299 have already received their third jab.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
