Tel Aviv, Jan. 19, (dpa/GNA) – Israel on Tuesday confirmed a record 10,021 new coronavirus cases, the Health Ministry said, as the country continues to vaccinate its population at breakneck speed.
The new record comes ahead of a meeting by Israel’s cabinet to vote on whether to extend the current third national lockdown initially scheduled to end on Friday.
All schools and kindergartens are closed, with the exception of special education.
Shopping centres are closed and restaurants are only allowed to offer delivery services. It is forbidden to visit the homes of people outside of the nuclear family and there is a restriction on travelling further than 1 kilometre from one’s home, with exceptions.
Meanwhile, Israel’s vaccination campaign continues at full steam.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced a new one-day vaccination record, tweeting that 186,000 people were vaccinated on Monday.
Of those, 114,000 people received their first dose and 72,000 received their second dose. So far, 2.2 million people in Israel have received their first dose, and 422,000 have received both doses.
The country began its inoculation campaign on December 20, using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. It has since also received the Moderna vaccine but most of the country is currently being vaccinated with the former.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that everyone in Israel over the age of 16 will have the opportunity to be vaccinated by March, when the country faces its fourth general election in two years.
GNA