Israel reports 6 pregnant women testing positive for new COVID-19 variant

JERUSALEM, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Ministry of Health on Saturday said six pregnant women have tested positive for the mutant COVID-19 strain which was detected in Britain and other countries.

Following an increase in severe coronavirus cases among pregnant women in recent weeks, the ministry carried out sampling for genetic tests to detect the COVID-19 strain. Six out of the seven hospitalized pregnant women screened for the genetic tests were found to have contracted the new variant.

The testing of another three samples has not yet been completed, the ministry noted.

Given the high COVID-19 morbidity among pregnant women in Israel, it was decided that all pregnant women would be eligible for immediate vaccination, in addition to people aged 40 and over who were given priority in receiving the vaccines.

The total number of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 variants in Israel currently stands at 175.