A nine-year-old girl from central Israel has contracted the South African variant of the coronavirus, Channel 12 News reported on Tuesday evening.

According to the report, the girl was tested for the coronavirus right before Israel’s third lockdown began and it’s possible that she infected her fellow students and teachers, who have all been instructed to enter quarantine.

The Health Ministry is gathering samples from all those who had contact with the girl in order to determine if others have been infected with the variant in an effort to quickly halt the infection cycle.

The Health Ministry reported on Motzei Shabbos that four cases of the South African coronavirus mutation had been found in Israel.

Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the head of the Health Ministry’s Public Health division, said last week that “the South African variant is worrying because it can cause severe morbidity in young people. It’s not yet clear if the vaccine will be effective on it and there is a worrying preliminary study. The new study examined 11 people who had developed antibodies from existing vaccines and it’s possible that the vaccines will be less effective [on the South African virus variant].”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)