Health Ministry says new Delta mutation AY4.2 appears to be 15% more infectious - The Times of Israel

Israel’s Health Ministry said that the recently discovered subvariant of the Delta coronavirus, known as AY4.2, appears to be slightly more contagious, but no more deadly, than the original variant.

The ministry said it had only found six cases of AY4.2 imported from overseas and that it had not yet been detected spreading locally.

In a recent report, UK officials said the variant makes up 6% of all analyzed COVID-19 cases in the country and is “on an increasing trajectory.”.

The Delta variant remains “by far the most dominant variant in terms of global circulation” said Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead on COVID-19, at a public session this week.

In the US, the Delta variant accounts for nearly all COVID-19 cases.

The newer AY4.2 Delta variant has been spotted “on occasion,” but it’s not yet a concern, health officials said.