Israel orders reopening of COVID-19 units amidst rise in cases

Israel's health ministry ordered hospitals in the country to reopen coronavirus units "immediately," amidst a new surge of COVID-19 cases.

In a memo to hospitals on Sunday, Sigal Liberant-Taub, head of the health ministry's general medicine division, wrote that the past few weeks saw a rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases as well as in the number of hospitalized patients, severely ill patients, and in the number of staff who are in isolation following exposure to COVID-19 patients, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The instruction is to prepare for the immediate opening of the (coronavirus) units," she wrote.

Israel saw on Saturday an increase of 294 COVID-19 cases, the health ministry said, taking the total to 4,669 with 305 deaths.

After three months of lockdown, Israel has reopened schools, parks, beaches, restaurants, pubs, shops, and allows concert and public events in outdoor and indoor venues under several restrictions.