New Covid-19 Variant in Israel Has 2 Omicron Sub-Strains; Fever, Muscle Dystrophy Among Symptoms

Amid a global rise in cases of Covid-19, the ministry of health in Israel said on Wednesday that it has detected the presence of a new variant of covid on two passengers arriving at Israel’s airport.

“The two cases of the combined strain, which have been discovered so far, suffered from mild symptoms of fever, headaches and muscle dystrophy, and do not require a special medical response,” the statement from the ministry read.

All you need to know:

The newest variant, which is a combination of two sub-variants of the Omicron version of the Covid-19 virus dubbed BA.1 and BA.2, was detected during PCR tests on two passengers who arrived at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.

As per reports by Israel’s national broadcaster Kan, a limited number of cases of this variant have been detected among people who returned from Europe, and there is no community spread so far.

Israel’s pandemic response chief Salman Zarka dismissed the panic associated with the emergence of the new variant and said that the phenomenon of combined variants is well-known and at present, they are not worried about this taking a serious turn.

Earlier, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist, had spoken about the variant acknowledging a stain that combines Delta and Omicron. She noted that it has been detected in a few countries, including France and the Netherlands, but at low levels. She had further added that the variant has been in circulation in Europe for around two months, and so far has not shown signs of spreading faster though it is still under investigation.

“The emergence of 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.

Earlier, Israel had recorded the first case of ‘Florona’ disease, a double infection of Covid-19 and Influenza. According to reports, the first case of Florona was detected after a pregnant woman was infected with the disease. The woman, who was infected with Florona, was not vaccinated as per a report by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

According to the latest official figures, around 1.4 million cases of Covid infection, including 8,244 deaths, have been officially recorded in Israel so far.

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