For the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Israel reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and no new deaths from the disease in the previous 12 hours.
On Sunday, 14 new cases brought the national tally to 16,621, the majority of which, 13,014, have already been listed as officially recovered. There are currently 3,335 confirmed active cases of coronavirus in Israel, with 167 people receiving treatment in hospital, 47 of whom are on ventilators, up from 44 as of Sunday night.
Israel has recorded drastically reduced numbers of new cases in the past couple of weeks, resulting in a reduction in the number of daily tests being conducted.
However, 100 schoolchildren were sent into quarantine this week after two teachers in the city of Rehovot tested positive for the virus. A teacher from Tel Aviv that tested positive also resulted in the quarantine of pupils.
As a result of the significant drop in cases, Israel fully reopened schools this week after two months of closure, and has reopened businesses and even shopping malls, though new health regulations limit the number and circumstances under which patrons can enter, requiring people to wear face masks and maintain a distance of 2 meters (6.6 feet) from each other.
However, due to an ongoing intense heatwave that hit the country over the weekend, thousands of Israelis have hit the country’s beaches in defiance of Health Ministry regulations.
