Israeli Finance Minister tests Covid positive

Jerusalem, Jan 16 (IANS) Israel's Minister of Finance Avigdor Lieberman said he has tested positive for Covid-19 and will isolate for a few days in his home.

Lieberman, who received the fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot on January 10, said his test results came on Saturday, adding that he "will continue to lead a responsible economic policy from home, track figures and plan steps forward", reports Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry reported 39,015 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 1,768,135.

The death toll increased by 10 to 8,303, while the number of patients in serious condition rose from 306 to 387.

The number of active cases increased to a record of 267,734, while the rate of positive results from all daily tests increased from 12.65 per cent to 14.02 per cent, highest figure since September 2020.