The Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that his country is on the verge of declaring a state of emergency, in light of the monitoring of the outbreak of a new highly contagious strain of the Coronavirus (known also as COVID-19).
Bennett warned at the start of a government session held today, Friday, after detecting the first infections of the new strain in Israel, according to a statement issued by his office, that this mutant, which was recorded for the first time in the Republic of South Africa, is highly contagious, and exceeds the “Delta” strain in terms of its ability to spread.
The Israeli PM indicated that his government is currently obtaining information from the health authorities in South Africa.
He pointed out that the health services in Israel are working hard to check the new mutation of COVID-19 ", but the Hebrew state has not yet obtained all the required information.
He said: "Our knowledge will expand in the coming days very quickly, and we will know whether the new mutation really penetrates immunity and at what pace, whether it was more lethal or not, how it affects children, and so on."
Bennett acknowledged that monitoring the first infections with the new mutant in Israel is disturbing, expressing his government's commitment to the principle of strong and immediate action, especially with regard to regulating the movement of travelers to and from the country.
" He went on to say that Israel is now on the verge of an emergency, and I ask everyone to be prepared and fully engaged around the clock.
Bennett reminded that the Israeli authorities had conducted a few weeks ago an exercise, the first of its kind in the world, that simulated the scenario of the outbreak of a new deadly strain of the Coronavirus.
He noted that this matter seemed somewhat imaginary at the time, but now it turns out that that exercise was one of the most important steps to confront the situation that Israel is currently facing.
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