Ahead of partial lockdown, Israel sees highest infections in 3 months

Shortly before the start of a third partial lockdown in Israel, the coronavirus numbers in the country have climbed to their highest level in almost three months.

The Ministry of Health announced on Friday that 3,958 new cases had been reported within 24 hours; there had not been that many in the Mediterranean country since the beginning of October.

In view of the rising numbers, a third partial lockdown is to be imposed in Israel from Sunday afternoon. This should apply for at least two weeks, but an extension of two or three more weeks is expected.

Israel had tightened its entry restrictions in light of the spread of a new, possibly particularly contagious variant of the coronavirus.

According to the Ministry of Health, cases with the coronavirus mutation discovered in Britain have also been identified in Israel.

A vaccination campaign has been running in Israel for almost a week.

According to Health Minister Juli Edelstein, 210,000 people from the group of over 60s and medical staff have already received the first dose of vaccine. It is expected that the vaccination of the general population could begin as early as January.