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Israel has confirmed a case of a subvariant of the Delta strain of the coronavirus previously reported in some European countries, the health ministry said.
“The AY 4.2 variant, which has been discovered in a number of European countries has been identified in Israel,” a ministry statement said on Tuesday evening.
An 11-year-old boy from Europe was the carrier, the ministry said, adding that the case was identified at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. The boy has been quarantined and no further contacts have been discovered, the ministry said.
The AJ 4.2. variant has appeared several times in the UK.
François Balloux, professor of computer systems biology at University College London, told AFP that the subvariant is rare and does not appear to carry the same risk of significantly increased transmission as other strains.
The variant was discovered as Israel plans to ease restrictions on tourism following a drop in the number of cases.
An earlier plan to reopen the borders has collapsed amid an increase in cases driven by the Delta strain.
In late August and early September, new cases exceeded 11,000 per day.
Authorities have launched an aggressive campaign to inoculate citizens with a third booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has reduced infections.
Authorities on Wednesday reported 1,487 new cases in the past 24 hours.
UK monitors ‘subvariant’ of coronavirus strain Delta: government
© 2021 AFP
Quote: Israel Reports Subvariant of Coronavirus Delta Strain (2021, October 20) retrieved on October 20, 2021 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10-israel-subvariant-delta-coronavirus-strain .html
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