Coronavirus testing
Coronavirus testingYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch was interviewed by the 'Fridays with Oded Ben Ami' show on Channel 12 and warned of a strong chance of a third coronavirus lockdown in the country.

"I'm concerned that we've strayed from our policy of not reopening until we see a significant decrease in the infection rate. I'm afraid the State of Israel is on its way to a third lockdown," said Kisch.

"I never said this before since we were handling it in a very coordinated manner, but when I see malls reopening on their own volition, there's no justification. "With this kind of behavior in place, a third lockdown is highly plausible," he added.

Regarding rumors surrounding a "mandatory vaccination law," Kisch assured there was no intention of passing such a measure.

"We will not force people to get vaccinated. We won't have scenes of police dragging people out of their homes to force the treatment," Kisch stressed during the interview.

Members of Yamina responded to Kisch's statement: "As we warned in real time: Anyone who celebrates a second closure as a 'global success' will lead us into another. Israel remains paralyzed."

Kan 11 News reported Wednesday that Ministry of Health officials said Coronavirus Director, Prof. Nachman Ash, will announce another lockdown when the infection rate reaches 2,000 cases per day while lifting measures once the rate is down to about 500 cases.

On Wednesday evening, 819 additional virus cases were reported out of a total of 56,619 tests conducted.