Friday saw a total of 11,663 new coronavirus cases, representing 20.04% of the test results received that day, Israel's Health Ministry reported Saturday night.
On Thursday, 17.92% of coronavirus test results received were positive, while on Wednesday, the percentage was 18.49%.
The new cases bring the total number of active cases to 70,886 nationwide. Of those, 436 were new arrivals at Ben Gurion International Airport.
A full 6.11% of those reported to have recovered from the virus are later reinfected, the Ministry data showed.
Meanwhile, though the infection coefficient remains high, for the second day in a row it has registered a drop: The coefficient, which becomes available only ten days later, measured a high on Thursday, when the number from March 13 was 1.43, and since then has dropped. On Friday, the coefficient from March 14 stood at 1.42 while on Saturday, the coefficient from March 15 stood at 1.4.
The coefficient indicates whether the pandemic is expanding or contracting.
As of Saturday evening 770 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, among them 290 whose condition is serious or worse. Of those, 142 patients are in critical condition, with 123 intubated and 20 on ECMO (heart and lung) machines.
Since the start of the pandemic, 10,460 people have died of coronavirus in Israel.