Posted on 07/23/21
| News Source: i24
Positivity rate at 1.83% out of nearly 70,000 coronavirus tests administered on Thursday
Israel on Friday registered 1,263 new daily COVID-19 cases, although the number of patients in serious condition remained low at 81 with 23 of those listed as critical and 17 people on respirators, according to Health Ministry data.
The percentage of coronavirus tests that came back positive on Thursday was 1.83 percent out of 69,668 administered.
The number of active coronavirus patients stood at 10,194 as of Friday morning with the death toll since the pandemic began at 6,457.
Israel is facing its biggest outbreak of the coronavirus since March due to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, although there has not been a corresponding spike in serious infections as the country has vaccinated more than 5.2 million people with two doses.
Israel's Health Ministry reported Thursday that the Pfizer vaccine's efficacy in preventing delta variant infections has dropped to 39 percent, while the vaccination was still 91 percent effective in preventing serious illness among those fully inoculated.