Due to COVID, the whole world is facing all kinds of problems for the last two and a half years. Scientists and experts from all over the world were engaged in finding its treatment and vaccine. Even after vaccination, COVID has not been completely eradicated. With the advent of many new variants, the danger is not over yet. However, people have come into relaxation mode considering it to be over and people are doing their work without any hesitation in festivals and celebrations. More recently, with the discovery of a new variant of COVID in Israel, the concerns of the people have increased again before the festivals. Experts say that people should not stop taking precaution and keep adopting the means of rescue.
Israel’s health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that their country had discovered an unknown variant of COVID-19. This Omicron sub-variant is a combined variant of ba.1 and ba.2. The officials have so far confirmed two such cases. The ministry said on Twitter, “Nobody in the world knows about this strain yet. It was detected in a PCR test conducted at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.
It said infected people showed “mild symptoms” including fever, headache and muscle ailments. However, they “did not require special therapy.” The statement said that the ministry is monitoring the situation and will continue to provide updates as needed. The World Health Organization has yet to respond to Israel’s claim.
Both BA.1 and BA.2 are sub-variants of Omicron. WHO previously recognized that the ba.2 sub-variant is more transmissible than ba.1, but there is no difference in severity. However, very little information is available about the new variant discovered in Israel so far.
Salman Zarka, the chief officer of COVID-19 in the country, dismissed the idea of considering the new variant as serious. The Times of Israel quoted Zarka as saying, “The incident of the combined variant is known to all… At this point, we are not worried about serious cases (due to the new variant).”
Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Aish said that although the origin of this variant is currently unknown, it may have emerged in Israel. “It is likely that the victims were infected before they took off in Israel. The variant could have surfaced here. We don’t know what that means yet.”