In the midst of a global increase in Covid-19 cases, Israel’s Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that it had identified the presence of a new type of Covid on two travellers arriving at the country’s airport. “The two cases of the combination strain detected thus far have suffered from moderate symptoms of fever, headaches, and muscular dystrophy, and do not require a specific medical reaction,” the ministry said in a statement.
The newest version, a hybrid of two sub-variants of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus known as BA.1 and Ba.2, was discovered during PCR testing on two travellers arriving at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, as per reports by News18.
According to reports from Israel’s national broadcaster Kan, a small number of cases of this variety have been discovered among persons who have returned from Europe, and no community has formed as of yet.
Salman Zarka, Israel’s pandemic response leader, downplayed fears about the new variant’s appearance, saying that the phenomena of combining variations is well-known and that they are not concerned about it taking a severe turn at this time.
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist, had previously commented about the variant recognising a stain that mixes Delta and Omicron. She stated that it has been identified at low levels in a few nations, including France and the Netherlands. She went on to say that the version has been in circulation in Europe for approximately two months and hasn’t showed any symptoms of spreading quicker, but it’s still being investigated.
“The rise if the variant isn’t surprising and neither is the fact that it would reach Israel from Europe, as there is lots of travel to Tel Aviv,” immunologist Prof. Cyrille Cohen, of Bar Ilan University, told The Times Of Israel.
