Covid infections in Israel rockets to 9,583 new cases in 24 hours

The ministry of health reports a record number of new coronavirus cases – 9,583 since Monday and 7,6pc positive tests out of 127,000. In hospital are 1,027 seriously ill patients, of whom 247 are on ventilators. The death toll has reached, 3,704.

Since last Friday, Israel has been on a stringent lockdown. The steep rise in contagion is attributed by a group of scientists at the Weitzman Institute to the growing prevalence of the highly transmissible “British mutant.”  Their estimate which was put before the Coronavirus Cabinet is that this strain will be responsible for breaking more records of infection and mortality in the coming weeks. They expect the ongoing crash vaccination program – 1,850,000 people have been inoculated till now – to gradually bring the figures down, and predict that no more strict closures will be needed to control the spread of the virus.