A genetic study at Tel Aviv University has found that most Israelis COVID-19 patients were infected by a virus originating in the United States and not directly by the virus that originated from China.
The study was led by Dr. Adi Stern of the molecular microbiology and biotechnology department in the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University.
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According to financial daily Globes, the researchers were able to sequence the genome of the coronavirus diagnosed in Israel, thus identifying mutations that revealed the chains of infection and the path of the virus from overseas to Israel and also within Israel.
Stern said that while all genome sequencing identifies China as the origin of the contagion, there are no cases in Israel originating directly from China or from other Asian countries.
She explained that genome sequencing provides precise data on the migration of the coronavirus within Israel, lending even greater importance to the Health Ministry's epidemiological investigation of corona cases. These probes rest on the basic question presented to patients, "Where have you been and with whom?"
A further aspect of the research is the development of a complex mathematical-statistical model that processes epidemiological data.
According to TAU, the model shows that the transmission coefficient of the virus – the number of other patients that each patient infects – fell substantially in the wake of the nationwide lockdown imposed as part of the governments' efforts to curb the pandemic.
The study estimates that more than 80% of infections originate in just 10% of patients or less. This means that most infections in Israel are from "super-spreaders."
