EU confirms first case of South African strain

The first case of infection with the South African strain of coronavirus (B.1.1.529) was detected in Belgium. This was announced by the Minister of Health of the country, Frank Vandenbroek, in an interview with the local TV channel LN24. Reuters specifies that this is the first reported case of this variant in the EU.

“One case of infection with this strain has been registered in Belgium,” the minister said in an interview, noting that there is no medical evidence of a higher danger than that of the delta strain.

The infection was confirmed on November 22 in a woman who had not been vaccinated and had recently returned from abroad. Virologist Marc van Ranst, who works with the Belgian National Institute of Public Health, told Reuters that the woman came from Egypt.

Earlier, a new strain of coronavirus was discovered in Israel in a passenger who arrived from Malawi. According to the newspaper Haaretz, the country's Ministry of Health suspects that two more passengers on the same flight may be infected. Against the backdrop of the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus, Israel and the UK have limited flights to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini. In addition to these states, the Israeli authorities have banned flights to Mozambique.