Israel’s Health Ministry announced on Motzei Shabbos that another four cases of the South African virus variant have been diagnosed, increasing the total number of cases in the country to 12.

The ministry stated that the four Israelis diagnosed with the variant had returned from the United Arab Emirates and coronavirus tests performed at Ben-Gurion Airport on their return were positive for the variant.

On Tuesday, a nine-year-old girl in central Israel was diagnosed with the South African variant.

After a Brazilian virus variant was recently discovered in Japan, Israel made a decision on Thursday to send travelers returning from Brazil to quarantine in state-run hotels.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)