Israel reports COVID-19 outbreak in 2 schools, 45 students infected

JERUSALEM, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Ministry of Health on Saturday reported a COVID-19 outbreak in two schools in the town of Binyamina, 60 km north of Tel Aviv.

The outbreak concerns a primary school and a middle school, where 45 students in total were tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the ministry.

An extensive testing operation, which began after one of the middle school students had been tested positive, revealed the outbreak.

According to the ministry, the source of the outbreak is related to a family who recently returned from abroad, with the infection of the COVID-19 variant first detected in India.

On June 6, Israel started vaccinating teenagers aged between 12 and 15 against COVID-19. Before that, only people aged 16 and over were eligible to get vaccinated.

The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel currently stands at about 5.49 million, or 58.9 percent of its total population.

Israel reported 60 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number in the country to 839,829.

The death toll from the virus remained at 6,427, while the number of patients in a serious condition decreased from 23 to 22, out of 47 patients currently hospitalized.