Israel PM declares state of emergency as country detects first case of new COVID variant

As the world is concerned over the new COVID-19 variant, which originally arose in South Africa, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declared Israel to be in an emergency situation on Friday. As per Sputnik, the country, on Friday, had registered the first case of the new Coronavirus variant. The Health Ministry also stated that the first case of the variant was discovered in Israel after a person arrived from Malawi.

As per the reports of Times of Israel, the PM stated that right now, they are on the verge of a crisis and asked everyone to be prepared. He also said that the new variant is more contagious, and it will spread at a faster rate than the Delta variant. Bennett informed that the authorities are looking into data from South Africa to learn more about it, including whether it is resistant to existing vaccines.

Health Ministry officials pushed Bennett to impose further limits on all arrivals to Israel, including asking them to undergo an additional COVID test on the third day of their stay, according to the Walla news site. 

Returning Israelis will be obliged to isolate at a state-run hotel for a week

South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, and Eswatini have all been added to the list of countries from which foreigners cannot enter Israel, according to Times of Israel. Bennett also announced that returning Israelis, including those who have been completely vaccinated, will be obliged to isolate at a state-run hotel for a week before being released after receiving two negative RT-PCR tests.

Data released by the Israeli Ministry of Health on Friday, suggest that 524 people were diagnosed with COVID on Thursday. A total of 166 people were admitted to the hospital, with 120 of them in critical condition, according to the Times of Israel. Officials from the Ministry of Health told lawmakers on Wednesday that if the number of new infections detected each day exceeds 1,000 per day, or infection rates continue to rise, further limitations may be required.

South African scientists discovered a new COVID-19 variant on Thursday

South African scientists said on Thursday that they had discovered a new COVID-19 variant with a very high number of mutations, which they blame for an exponential increase in infections in the country, according to Times of Israel. To fight the spread of a new COVID variant, EU countries have also declared steps to suspend air travel from southern Africa.

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