According to the department, 122 students and teachers tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 900 people are currently infected.

The data emerged on Wednesday, the last school day in Israel before the summer holidays.

Despite the full vaccination of more than half of the population, the number of infections in Israel has recently risen again, and the government has re-imposed the obligation to wear face masks in enclosed public spaces. The authorities also strongly encourage teens between the ages of 12 and 15 to get vaccinated.

The high number of coronavirus infections in Israel is linked to the more contagious delta type, and half of new infections are now diagnosed in fully vaccinated people. However, according to experts, this does not mean that vaccines are ineffective, but that herd immunity has not yet been achieved, which is a higher threshold for the variant of the virus that spreads more quickly.

In Israel, which is home to 9.3 million people, in late May, only one infection was recorded per day in late May, but last week, infection rates rose to more than 100, and this week to more than 200.