Israel records two cases of new Covid-19 variant

Israel has confirmed a new variant of covid-19, as two people who traveled abroad, were detected with the unidentified variant, Israeli newspaper Haaretz said quoting the health ministry .

The new variant of the virus, according to the news reports is a combination of the BA.1 (omicron) and BA.2 variants.

The two passengers infected with this variant landed at Ben-Gurion International airport in Tel Aviv and tested positive after a PCR test was done.

The health ministry said their samples were sent for genome sequencing.

According to the health ministry, the affected patients had symptoms including headaches, fever, and muscle aches.

Experts say the linking of the two variants is not uncommon, however, the phenomenon occurs when the two viruses are in the same cell.

News reports said the two patients were a couple in their thirties and got the infections from their infant.

India has meanwhile reported 796 new covid cases, with the active cases surpassing the 5,000 mark after 109 days, according to the data from Union Health Ministry .