File photo: Agencies

JERUSALEM, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Ministry of Health reported 1,218 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising the tally in the country to 774,479.

The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 5,738 after 12 new fatalities were added, while the number of patients in serious condition increased from 760 to 776, out of 1,278 hospitalized patients.

The total recoveries in Israel rose to 728,633, with 854 newly recovered cases.

The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Israel has reached nearly 4.7 million, or 50.4 percent of its total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020.

The country's COVID-19 reproduction number, also known as the R number, rose to 0.99, higher than 0.79 a week ago.

The R number is an indicator used to determine how fast COVID-19 is spreading, as an R number greater than 1 means that the number of patients increases at an exponential rate and multiplies from time to time.