No letup in rising coronavirus figures

Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Health reported 1,182 new covid cases in the past 24 hours. Altogether 266 patients are seriously ill in hospital, with 94 on ventilators. Deaths have risen to 2,877 since the outbreak began. Positive test results are still high at 1.9pc. The coronavirus director, Prof. Nahman Ash warned that the country is in a state of emergency and did not rule out a third lockdown. The number of active cases this week crossed the 10,000 line for the first time since July.