South African COVID Strain Spreading Domestically in Israel, Testing Indicates

[Mary Wilson]

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Published on 27.01.2021
Ido Efrati

Three domestic cases of the South African coronavirus strain were found for the first time, in a random selection of COVID test samples from patients who did not travel overseas or come into contact with people returning from abroad.

It is the first sign of an existing chain of infection for this virus variant still unknown to the virus tracking system.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-south-african-covid-variant-spreading-domestically-in-israel-testing-shows-1.9487958

[Mary Wilson]

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Four Cases of the South African Coronavirus Strain Found in Israel

Ido Efrati
Published on 09.01.2021

Israel's Health Ministry announced Saturday that it had identified four cases of the South African coronavirus variant in Israel.

They were found among 15 samples that were sent to the ministry's central virus lab for rapid sequencing.

The four cases come from two different chains of infection, the ministry said: one from a person who returned to Israel from South Africa, and another from a family that was infected by someone who returned from the country.

... On Wednesday, public health chief Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis had expressed concern over a spread of the South African strain in Israel, saying that new research showed that exisiting vaccines may be less effective against it.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-four-cases-of-the-south-african-coronavirus-strain-found-in-israel-1.9437208