(Jerusalem) The Israeli Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that it had detected two cases of contamination with an unidentified variant of the coronavirus, without apparent seriousness and which combines the BA.1 and BA.2 sub-variants.
Posted at 7:50 a.m.
“This variant is not yet known to the world and both cases were discovered through PCR tests performed at Ben Gurion Airport upon entry to Israel,” a ministry statement said.
“The infected people showed mild symptoms of fever, headaches and muscle aches and did not require any special medical care,” he continues.
For the head of the Israeli government’s anti-covid strategy, Salman Zarka, “the phenomenon of combined variants is well known” and “at this stage, we are not worried (that the new variant may lead to) severe cases. he told Israel Army Radio.
As cases of contamination rise again around the world, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is due to hold a meeting Wednesday with officials from the Ministry of Health, his office said.
The health situation has deteriorated in several countries due to the spread of the BA.2 sub-variant, which is particularly contagious. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated at the end of February that BA.2 did not cause a more serious form of the coronavirus than BA.1.
The Jewish state put an end to the health passport of which it was one of the pioneers in February and reopened its borders to unvaccinated people on 1er March, a first since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All foreign visitors can enter Israel, provided they complete a PCR test before departure and another upon arrival. Israeli citizens only need to take a PCR test upon arrival.
The Hebrew state was one of the first countries to launch a major vaccination campaign in December 2020, thanks to an agreement with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.