Israel warns of 'emergency' after detecting new virus strain - Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Friday that Israel is “on the threshold of an emergency situation” after authorities detected the country’s first case of a new coronavirus variant and barred travel to and from most African countries.

The Health Ministry said it detected the new strain in a traveler who had returned from Malawi and was investigating two other suspected cases.

At a Cabinet meeting convened Friday to discuss the new variant, Bennett said it is more contagious and spreads more rapidly than the delta variant.