Health Ministry officials disclosed that cases of the Omicron coronavirus strain are popping up throughout Israel with no known source of infection, indicating it could be spreading despite efforts to keep the variant out of the country.
“It’s possible it has spread wider than we thought,” a ministry source was quoted by the Kan public broadcaster.
According to the report, there were five to nine Omicron cases of unknown provenance, mostly in central Israeli cities of Modi’in and Ra’anana.
Health Ministry warned that Israel could see 15,000 daily coronavirus cases if the strain, thought to be very contagious, spreads unchecked, the broadcaster said.
The ministry has so far confirmed 67 Omicron infections in Israel. In its most recent update on the variant, the ministry said it was working to verify another 80 cases in which there was a “high” suspicion” they were Omicron.
Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said on Monday that a lockdown is "not on the table" despite the fast spread of the Omicron variant in the country.
Israel on Sunday announced it was adding a host of new countries, including UK and Denmark, to its "red" list of countries that Israelis are forbidden to visit, citing concern over the spread of the Omicron variant. Some 50 countries, mainly in Africa, have been declared "red" by Israel since the discovery of the highly contagious variant and the government said it is considering implementing further restrictions on movement.
Horowitz told Ynet the government is hoping to avoid another lockdown "at all costs".
"I was asked the same question at the start of the Delta variant wave of morbidity, and I can give you a similar answer - lockdown is not on the table," he said. "I was asked then if schools would be shut and I said that too would not happen. Our aim today is the same," Horowitz said.