Israel counts 32 suspected cases of new Omicron variant

Israel has shut down its borders to foreign visitors for a period of two weeks in an attempt to prevent the entry of further cases.

By Aryeh Savir/TPS

Israel is investigating 32 coronavirus (COVID-19) cases suspected of having been infected with the newly discovered Omicron strain, in addition to the two other cases that have already been verified.

The cases have been found in Israelis returning from South Africa, through Turkey, Dubai, Ethiopia, and Malawi.

The IDF’s Home Front has mobilized hundreds of soldiers to assist in the race against the new Omicron (B.1.1.529) SARS-CoV-2 Variant that was discovered in Israel in recent days. The Home Front troops are tracking down citizens who have returned to Israel from Red countries with high infection rates and are having them tested.

Israel has shut down its borders to foreign visitors for a period of two weeks in an attempt to prevent the entry of further cases.

While the government has sounded that alarm and has taken drastic action to contain the spread of the highly-contagious variant, the current COVID-19 states in the country are stable.

The R coefficient is 1.03, a bit lower than it has been in recent days, and the Ministry of Health registered a comparatively low number of 636 new cases on Monday.

About half of the cases are among children who have yet to be vaccinated. The number of verified school children increased by 1.5 times in the past week with 4,395 verified cases, and over 25,400 in solitary quarantine. The percentage of positive tests among students stands at 0.9%, compared to 0.5% in the general public.

One Israeli died of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total number of COVID-related deaths to 8,195 in about two years.