Israel finds four cases of COVID-19 mutation

Israeli officials said Wednesday that they have detected four cases of a more contagious strain of the coronavirus, believed to have originated in the U.K.

Israel’s Health Ministry said that of the four patients, three had recently returned from England, while they are still determining the provenance of the fourth.

“In the last two days we have been making a concerted effort to check that the mutation from the UK has not infiltrated [Israel],” Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said in a statement Wednesday, according to the Jerusalem Post. “Until a few minutes ago, we were optimistic. But now we are less optimistic. This information came in a few minutes ago from our labs.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the discovery of the new cases vindicated the country’s decision to close off air travel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the discovery of the mutated coronavirus in Israel:

“It is clear that we took the right steps when we closed the skies from Britain and the rest of the world.”

Full remarks:

>>>https://t.co/itJcIdGydg

— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) December 23, 2020

“It is clear that we took the right steps when we closed the skies from Britain and the rest of the world,” he said. “It is clear that we acted correctly when we required Israelis to quarantine in designated hotels. It is clear that we took the right steps we when sought to locate people who were in England and the other infected countries.”

Experts echoed statements made by officials of other countries, saying the variant does not appear to be any deadlier or more severe than the earlier strain and that there is no reason to believe existing vaccines will not be effective against it.

“Except for the rise in cases, greater severity has not been detected in the variant strain,” said Jonathan Halevy, director-general of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Numerous countries in Europe and elsewhere have banned travel to and from England in light of the new strain. The U.S. is not among them, and Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, has said such a move could be an “overreaction” and that the strain may already be in the U.S.