1,689 new coronavirus patients have been diagnosed in Israel over the last day, the Health Ministry announced Thursday evening.
Currently, there are 25,285 active coronavirus cases in Israel, 358 patients in serious condition, and 100 patients on ventilators.
Seven patients have died Thursday, raising the death toll to 576 53,412 Israelis have recovered from the disease so far.
Earlier, Prime Minister Bnjamin Netanyahu visited Shaare Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem Thursday, together with the national Coronavirus Czar, Prof. Roni Gamzu, and the director of Shaare Zedek, Prof. Ofer Merin.
Netanyahu described the development of the coronavirus vaccine at the Israel Institute for Biological Research: "There will be three phases - a trial with one hundred people, a trial with a thousand, and a trial with 30,000. This is the international requirement. If we go through the first two phases, the third experiment will take place by the end of the first quarter."
"There is no country with a morbidity level like ours that has not imposed closures, but we are making an effort to reduce morbidity by other means. With proper behavior we will eradicate it," the prime minister stated.
Netanyahu added: "I spoke today with the staff of the Biological Institute and issued instructions to start setting up the production plant for the coronavirus vaccine."