New COVID-19 strain found in Israel, infection wave feared

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From Christians for Truth:
As the Japanese Proverb states, "Only the criminal who set the fire can tell you where the next fire will take place."
https://christiansfortruth.com/headlines-for-march-15-2022/

New COVID-19 strain found in Israel, infection wave feared
Health officials are fearful of a new wave of infections after a novel variant of the COVID-19 virus was detected in Israel.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/323940

Health department officials said a new variant of the COVID virus unofficially dubbed "Deltacron", due to its combination of the Delta and Omicron mutations, has been detected in Israel.

Officials are fearful the strain may cause a new wave of infections, with possible lockdowns on the way.

The World Health Organization had previously said the new variant had been limited to a small number of cases in France, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

According to reports, scientists don't have much information, such as how easily it spreads and whether it causes severe illness, regarding the new variant.

A report published in the medical research journal WebMD claimed scientists did not expect COVID-19 to disappear in the near future.

"Unfortunately, we do expect to see recombinants because this is what viruses do, they change over time," it quoted World Health Organization COVID-19 technical lead Van Kerkhove as saying. "We're seeing a very intense level of circulation. We are seeing this virus infect animals, with the possibility of infecting humans again. So again, the pandemic is far from over."

Health officials in Israel are said to be very concerned about the increase in the coefficient of infection and coronavirus czar Prof. Salman Zarka has been warning in internal discussions of a sixth wave of COVID-19 infections.

On Saturday, close to 4,000 positive cases were detected in Israel and the infection coefficient rose to 0.87.

Channel 12 News reported on Sunday that the likely source of the increase in the infection coefficient was related to outbreaks in nursing homes and carelessness following the perceived conclusion of the fifth virus wave.

"COVID-19 is very much alive," Zarka warned, saying that efforts are being made to curb outbreaks in nursing homes by distributing home antigen tests, weekly PCR tests, and epidemiological investigations.

Next week will be critical and the number of patients in serious condition will be monitored, he continued. "If we notice an increase, unfortunately we will [have to weigh our options again]."