Israel's Health Ministry diagnosed 7,761 new coronavirus cases on Friday, and 4,181 so far Saturday, newly-published data shows.
With 67,553 active coronavirus cases, Israel now has 1,055 coronavirus patients hospitalized, including 645 who are in serious condition - the highest since March. Among the seriously ill are 155 coronavirus patients who are in critical condition and 110 on ventilators.
A total of 150,015 coronavirus tests were performed Friday, and 5.45% of test results received that day were positive.
Nine people died of coronavirus on Friday and six so far on Saturday, bringing the death tally to 6,775. Since the beginning of the month, 297 coronavirus patients have died, almost all of them over age 60.
On Saturday night, Health Ministry Director General Professor Nachman Ash said that the influence of the coronavirus vaccine's booster dose is starting to become clear.
In an interview with Kan 11, Ash said that it would "be proper to start the school year on time," but added that his office is weighing restricting family gatherings over Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year).
Earlier this week, a report by the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate showed that vaccinated individuals do not infect others as frequently as their unvaccinated counterparts.
"Those vaccinated infect others much less than those who are unvaccinated, even when it comes to the Delta strain," the report said.