OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel has recorded a 40 percent jump in the confirmed coronavirus cases to reach 427 in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, predicting a steeper rise as mass-testing is implemented.

Having urged Israelis to stay home and approved cyber-monitoring of their movements to reduce infection risks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at least 3,000 coronavirus tests would be conducted daily, including at new drive-through stations.

“We will reach a situation in which there are many hundreds of new patients each day, and possibly more,” Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, director general of the Health Ministry, told Israel’s Army Radio.

Up from the 304 confirmed cases reported on Tuesday morning, five of the 427 patients were in a critical condition, the ministry said.

There have been no reports of coronavirus fatalities in Israel or the Palestinian territories. — Agencies