It was reported on Monday that at least 12 total cases of the Delta plus strain have been discovered in the State of Israel. The number of patients experiencing serious conditions in the country is continuously rising and has reached 108 cases, which is 12 more than the figure reported a day before. Last Monday, the number was at 61. As per sources, the majority of the carriers of the new mutation flew to Israel from Georgia.
Experts on the matter have stated that it is too early at the moment to assess the complete effects of the Delta plus variant. The original strain, namely the Delta variant, has been found to be significantly more contagious, as compared to the other strains of the novel coronavirus.
From Friday onwards, the relevant authorities of the country have decided to add Georgia to the list of countries that the citizens of Israel are not allowed to travel to, as per the travel ban. Turkey, Cyprus, Kenya, and Great Britain will also be added to this list. As of now, Argentina, Brazil, Kyrgyzstan, Spain, Belarus, India, Mexico, South Africa, Uzbekistan, and Russia are under the travel ban.
The Health Committee of the Knesset has been scheduled to have a meeting soon to talk about and give its approval for the decision made by the coronavirus cabinet to ban travel to Georgia and four other countries.
On Sunday, the State of Israel identified no less than 1,398 new cases of the deadly disease. Of the 67,676 tests that were processed, 2.08% came up positive. This is the highest percentage of tests to have returned a positive result since the month of March.
In the last 24 hours alone, two additional patients of the virus have lost their lives to it, bringing the total to 28 so far in this month. While these deaths are only a fraction of what the country was recording when the pandemic was at its peak, it represents a significant increase as compared to the month of June. Back then, the total number of people who succumbed to the virus was 9.
In other news, the former Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has stated that the country is an independent entity and should not waste time waiting for the American Food and Drug Administration to deliver two million vaccines of the coronavirus to Israel.
While talking to his Likud faction at the Knesset, the former Prime Minister revealed that he had conversations with the heads of both Moderna and Pfizer. He added that the FDA has said that there is no need to begin administering a booster shot but, the two companies warned that it is better for Israel to acquire the vaccines so that they may be administered once the approval comes.
As per Netanyahu, the plague that is currently being experienced by Israel can be prevented, if the current Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, abandons the approach that he is currently taking to deal with the outbreak.