More than 5.1 mllion Israelis have now received at least their first vaccination shot against Covid-19, with more than 4.5 million having the crucial second injection.
On Thursday evening, the Cabinet agreed to ease Covid restrictions further, including the re-opening of tourist attractions. Additionally, the number of children allowed to participate in outdoor school events has been increased from 20 to 50.
Key to accessing many businesses and attractions is possession of a Green Pass, which demonstrates that the holder is fully vaccinated. The High Court ruled this week that the restrictions being applied to Israeli citizens returning from abroad, including the 3000 per day quota are unconstitutional and had to be removed by tomorrow (Sunday). It was announced this evening that Ministers have formally voted to remove the cap on the daily number of returning citizens.
The number of coronavirus tests showing as positive is continuing to dwindle, with the most recent figure of just 1.8% reported on Friday, representing the previous 24 hours.
Until last year when Ukrainian officials prevented it, there had been a long tradition among many haredim at Rosh Hashanah to make an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. However, with reports of Israel sending surplus vaccines to Ukraine, it looks as though the trip should be on for this year.
With infection rates finally in decline, Israel has fallen slightly to 17th place for the number of coronavirus tests per million people (1,425,869), three places below the UK (1,512,497). This compares to the disputed territories in 93rd place (259,728).
Israel has fallen to 55th place for deaths per million people (661 per million). The UK also fell to 8th place with 1,851 deaths per million, still far higher than Israel: a testament to the heroes of Magen David Adom and all those involved in the Israeli health system. Also impressive is the statistic for the disputed territories, with only 464 deaths per million people and remaining in 69th place in the list. Both Israelis and Palestinians are therefore much less likely to die of Covid-19 than the frequency of confirmed cases would suggest, whereas people in the UK are much more likely to die.