Everything we know about the new COVID-19 variant found in Israel

Israel has reported two cases of the new COVID-19 variant after it was recorded during the PCR tests of two passengers arriving at the country’s Ben Gurion Airport. While this finding has given rise to fresh fears around the world, health officials in Israel played down the risks of this new variant.

Here’s a look at everything that we know about the new COVID-19 variant –

Combination of two variants – The Omicron variant of COVID-19 was responsible for a huge number of cases all around the world. The new strain found in Israel is the combination of two Omicron sub-variants namely BA.1 and BA.2. There is no official name given to this variant yet.

Also read | Israel reports new coronavirus variant

What are the symptoms - The patients have reported mild symptoms of fever, headache and muscle dystrophy. Both patients were teenagers and they did not require any kind of medical intervention.

"The two cases of the combined strain, which have been discovered so far, suffered from mild symptoms of fever, headaches and muscle dystrophy, and do not require a special medical response," the Israel health authorities said in an official statement.

Source of the variant – The Israel health ministry were unable to confirm the source of the new COVID-19 variant and according to director-general Nachman Ash, the two passengers could have been infected even before boarding the flight. Hence, the source remains unknown at present.

Also read | South Korea reports more than 600,000 Covid cases amid Omicron surge

How concerning is the new variant – The Israel health authorities have downplayed the new variant and they believe that the current evidence shows that it is not an extremely harmful variant.

"The phenomenon of combined variants is well known," Israel's pandemic response chief, Salman Zarka told Army Radio. "At this stage, we are not worried about it leading to serious cases".

Watch | Report: Combo strain 'Deltacron' detected in Israel

(With inputs from agencies)