The Ministry of Education released data regarding new coronavirus infections in Israel's school system including kindergartens, special ed. institutions, and regular school students.
As of tonight, Dec. 17th, 4,485 students have tested positive for the virus along with 916 teaching staff employees.
About half of the infected students (2,238) come from "red," "orange" and fully restricted areas.
Channel 13 News reported that Israel's Health Ministry will begin a local vaccination campaign as the country finds itself mired in another coronavirus surge with the threat of a third lockdown around the corner.
The report said that at-risk groups including the elderly population might begin receiving vaccinations as early as this coming Monday.
The Health Ministry published reports Thursday morning indicating that since midnight last night, 2,802 new virus cases have been diagnosed out of a total of 82,295 individuals tested, with the positive test rate continuing to rise, and currently standing at 3.5%.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, 366,182 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Israel, with the death toll at 3,033. There are currently 21,544 active coronavirus cases in the country.
705 patients are currently hospitalized, 461 are isolated in "Corona hotels," while 20,378 patients are in home isolation. 400 of those hospitalized are in serious condition, with 150 of these on ventilators. 162 patients are in moderate condition.