A newly identified COVID strain will likely spread to Israel, a senior Israeli health official said Monday.

• Dr. Nadav Sorek, manager of the microbiology laboratory at Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod, said Monday morning that it is only a matter of time before the XBB.1.5 variant of COVID, dubbed the “Kraken,” spreads to Israel.

• “The question is not if, but when. This new variant which is in the US – the XBB – will come to Israel,” said Sorek.

“What is happening in China and is starting to happen now in the US is basically a new sub-variant of the Omicron. It is a variant that on the one hand spreads very quickly, but on the other hand causes less serious illness than the Alpha and Delta strains.”

“So we have a variant that is less dangerous on the one hand, but is more infectious. And it also is constantly creating new variants – one after the other.”

• “Just because you got sick a few months ago, that doesn’t mean you are protected from the new variant. That’s why we’re seeing very intense waves of infection every few months.”

Israel will experience a new wave of infections, Sorek predicted yet another wave of infections would follow within a matter of months or even weeks.

The XBB.1.5 sub-variant now appears to be the dominant strain the US, making up 40.5% of confirmed cases in the US for the week ending on December 31st, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

• In the Northeast, XBB.1.5 accounted for some 75% of all confirmed cases.
• The XBB.1.5 was first reported in Asia, and has resulted in a spike in cases in China.

While the so-called “Kraken” sub-variant appears to be more infectious than previous strains – including the previous Omicron sub-variant – it is not believed to cause more serious illness.

• “There’s no suggestion at this point that XBB.1.5 is more severe, director of the CDC’s Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division Dr. Barbara Mahon told CBS News.

Source: Arutz Sheva