New coronavirus cases in Israel top 9,000 for the second day

In the past 24 hours, 9,025 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Israel on Wednesday with 7.2pc testing positive. The number of active cases hit another record of 78,215, with 1,043 seriously ill and 261 attached to respirators. Since Jan. 1, 428 people have died of the virus bringing the death total since the onset of the pandemic to 3,770

In view of the surging figures, the Ministry of Health recommends extending the two-week lockdown, now in its second week, by another week. It is also pushing to expand the vaccination tempo to 200,000 per day. People over 50 are now in line for immunization as well as all teaching staff.