Chinese researchers have identified a new coronavirus in bats that enters human cells through the same pathway as SARS-CoV-2, according to Bloomberg. The discovery at the Wuhan Institute of Virology sparked movement in vaccine company stocks, despite no human infections being reported.

The research, published in the scientific journal Cell, revealed that the newly discovered bat virus shares key characteristics with the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in how it infiltrates cells.

Vaccine manufacturers saw their shares climb following the news. Moderna's stock rose up to 6.6%, while Novavax experienced an increase of up to 7.8%. BioNTech's American depositary receipts gained as much as 5.1%, and Pfizer shares increased up to 2.6%, according to Bloomberg.

The Wuhan facility, which specializes in bat coronavirus research, has been at the center of discussions about the pandemic's origins. The US terminated funding to the lab in 2023, ending support that had been channeled through the US-based EcoHealth Alliance.

Scientists found that the virus binds to a protein commonly present in humans and other mammals. The pathogen shows a close relation to the coronavirus family responsible for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Bloomberg reported.

MERS has infected approximately 2,600 people globally between 2012 and May 2024, with a mortality rate of about 36%. The World Health Organization reported that Saudi Arabia recorded the majority of these cases.

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Starting on Wednesday, Aug. 24, Ben-Gurion International Airport will reinstate a service that most travelers probably didn't miss – PCR testing for people entering Israel.

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The tests are being funded by the government and are voluntary, at least for now. The purpose of the program is to make PCR testing easily accessible for people entering the country ahead of winter, when COVID numbers are projected to spike.

In the first phase of the new rollout, testing will be carried out from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Later, testing will be available around the clock. Travelers who want to be tested can avail themselves of the service in the G zone of the arrivals hall after collecting their baggage.

Once incoming flights land, passengers will receive text messages from the Health Ministry encouraging them to be tested before leaving the airport.

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Israel's health maintenance organizations plan to launch a COVID-19 vaccinations campaign for children 5 and younger next week, Israel Hayom learned Sunday.

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The Health Ministry has determined that the vaccinations available are safe to administer to young children, stressing that children, toddlers, and babies that are at high risk of developing complications from the coronavirus due to pre-existing medical conditions should be vaccinated.

Parents inoculating young children will be able to choose between Moderna and Pfizer shots, the ministry said.

Still, HMOs expect low turnout over parents' concerns about the vaccines. Data shows that only about 25% of Israeli children ages 5-11 have been vaccinated so far, both over the public's fatigue with the issue and the fact that young children usually do not suffer from severe coronavirus symptoms.

Chief Medical Director of Leumit Health Services Professor Shlomo Vinker, said that HMOs would find offering both vaccines "logistically challenging," but stressed that "we will know who should be vaccinated and we'll contact the parents. It stands to reason that we won't see a high turnout, though. If they [parents] didn't vaccinate older children at a high rate, it's safe to assume the same will be true of babies."

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Israeli startup ViroBlock announced on Wednesday the development of a new drug platform that could be used to treat future COVID-19 variants.

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The platform speedily generates anti-viral drugs that target proteins common to all viruses.

It could be used to combat not only future COVID-19 variants but also influenza, Zika, West Nile, hepatitis B and other viruses.

The company was founded in 2020 by researchers at Yissum, the technology transfer arm of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"Currently, there are no efficient, validated platforms for rapidly generating anti-viral drugs," said ViroBlock CEO and founder Prof. Isaiah (Shy) Arkin, who teaches and researches biological chemistry at Hebrew University's Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences.

"Scientists must develop new agents and a customized approach to target every new virus, without the ability to predict how that virus will develop resistance... ViroBlock is working on a promising drug candidate for COVID-19 using an approach that can be duplicated with most other important viruses," Arkin continued.

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ViroBlock's antiviral drug candidates inhibit two targets in the virus -- the E (envelope) protein and the 3a protein.

The company will next enter the human phase of its clinical trials on the anti-viral drug platform.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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Israel's Health Ministry approved Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccinations for its youngest children, French news agency AFP cited an Israeli official as saying Tuesday.

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The move follows the US Food and Drug Administration granting in its June emergency authorization for Moderna's vaccine for children aged six months to five years, and Pfizer's shots for those between six months and four years old.

A handful of other countries, including Argentina, Bahrain, Chile, China, Cuba, Hong Kong, and Venezuela were previously offering COVID shots for toddlers, but those did not include mRNA vaccines, regarded as the leading technology for the purpose.

On July 1, a letter by Israeli Health Ministry Director-General Professor Nachman Ash, seen by AFP, noted two hearings held by a ministry panel, in which Pfizer and Moderna data on the "mild" side effects and efficacy rates were presented.

All members of the expert panel agreed the vaccines were safe, with most of the panel "recommending to vaccinate at-risk babies and children, and to enable the vaccination of children who are not at risk," Ash wrote.

In light of the recommendation, Ash decided "to enable the administering of mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations by Pfizer and Moderna to children aged six months to four or five years," he said.

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Over six million Israelis have received at least two COVID vaccination shots, including 17% of the country's children aged 5-11, which up to the latest approval had been the youngest group eligible for inoculation. However, it remains unclear whether parents would rush to vaccinate toddlers as well.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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The Health Ministry reported on Monday that 926 people returning from abroad tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday. The number of confirmed cases returning from abroad has spiked in recent weeks, sparking concern among Health Ministry officials.

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It's important to note that Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv no longer administers rapid COVID tests for arrivals and that the Health Ministry's figures pertain only to those who tested themselves voluntarily. According to assessments, the numbers are far higher than the official figures, as many people either self-test at home and don't report the results, or don't test at all.

Among the 926 people who tested positive upon returning to Israel on Monday, 118 of them (12.7%) arrived from Greece.

The highest percentage of confirmed cases from one destination over the past week came from Morocco (100 positive tests out of 1,365 passengers). In second place was Portugal (84 confirmed cases out of 1,222 passengers).

Health Ministry officials are currently not working to introduce new restrictions on the aviation and tourism industries. As a reminder, foreign tourists can enter Israel freely and Israeli who want to fly abroad can do so according to the requirements of the destination country. Israel does not require COVID testing prior to departure or arrival.

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Concerns over a sixth resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel grew Monday, as the Health Ministry confirmed there was a dramatic rise in the number of Israelis who tested positive for the virus over the past day.

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The number of new cases has been slowly edging up for weeks, with 10,202 new patients diagnosed between Sunday and Monday. This is the highest daily figure since May 5, when 54,144 Israelis tested positive for the virus.

Israel has recorded 4,240,182 coronavirus cases, including 10,908 deaths, since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

As of Sunday, 168 patients are in serious condition, and the infection rate stands at 1.32.

The Health Ministry on Monday called on hospitals to reopen their coronavirus wards, most of which were shuttered as the pandemic waned.

The ministry is also said to be considering again introducing mandatory face-masks in enclosed spaces, which was lifted just last month.

Ministry Director-General Professor Nachman Ash confirmed Sunday that Israel was facing a new wave outbreak of coronavirus, which he said was caused mostly by the Omicron BA-5 Omicron subvariant, which is highly contagious, yet causes relatively mild symptoms in most patients.

Israel "is exercising a definite rise in positive cases and in morbidity, but not in mortality," he stressed.

Israel was one of the first countries to launch a nationwide coronavirus vaccination campaign and has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

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In a troubling trend, the Health Ministry reported another uptick in COVID-19, as 5,817 Israelis tested positive for the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, sparking concerns of a resurgence of the pandemic.

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The ministry's data shows that there are currently 28,316 active patients including 100 people in serious condition and 22 requiring artificial ventilation.

The positivity rate for screening tests is 26.3% and the virus reproduction rate R has exceeded 1.5.

A total of 10,882 Israelis have died from the virus since the onset of the global pandemic in March 2020.

Over the last week, Israel has recorded some 33,000 new coronavirus cases – a 105% increase over the previous week.

While the reason for the spike in cases in Israel has not been confirmed, it is likely due to the spread of new omicron subvariant BA.5, which represents 80% of new cases in Portugal – another country that has seen a recent rise in cases.

The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants circulating are similar to other subvariants of the omicron strain of the virus in that they produce milder symptoms upon infection compared to previous variants.

In view of the significant increase in cases, the Health Ministry said it was exploring reimposing mask-wearing in enclosed spaces and vaccinating the population at risk with a fifth dose.

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In a statement released on Monday afternoon, the Health Ministry recommended indoor mask-wearing for the first time since the requirement was removed in April of this year.

"We ask you to make sure to wear a mask in closed spaces, not because it is obligatory - but because it is an act of solidarity and caring for others," the statement said.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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Given Israel's rising COVID cases following the government decision to lift remaining restrictions, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met on Wednesday with national COVID response coordinator Professor Salman Zarka, head of public health services in the Health Ministry Dr. Sharon Elroi-Preiss, and other government officials, including Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz.

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The meeting resulted in a vote against administering third vaccine doses to children ages five to 12 but in favor of making vaccines mandatory for medical care providers.

The team also decided to refresh recommendations that elderly Israelis and at-risk individuals continue to wear masks in public places.

Later Wednesday, the Health Ministry's pandemic coordination team was due to meet, and Zarka was slated to brief the press at 3:30 p.m.

Speaking at the Medicine 2042 conference, Zarka said "it appears that we are seeing the start of a new [COVID] wave in Israel – the BA.5 wave. We are considering a fifth vaccination."

"In Israel, we celebrated the end of the third wave, and unfortunately there was a surprise with the Delta [variant] and some of the vaccinated patients died. Between the third and fourth waves, a new government was formed. The change brought with it a new mission – to balance saving people's lives and taking a broader for of national security in terms of education, the economy, and more.

"The government decided not to instate restrictions, not call lockdowns, and allow the market to grow, despite COVID," Zarka said.

On Tuesday, 4,585 Israelis tested positive for COVID, the highest number since April 19. There were 89 patients hospitalized in serious condition.

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Beginning Saturday, May 21, all COVID testing requirements for all travelers, regardless of nationality, will be canceled. Travelers won't have to present a negative test result before boarding a plane to Israel and will not have to undergo a COVID test upon entry, the Health Ministry on Monday.

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Foreigners will no longer be required to undergo a PCR or antigen test before boarding a flight to Israel, the Health Ministry statement added.

The move comes amid a decline in Covid-19 contamination rates in Israel.

It applies to all entry points for the state of Israel – Ben Gurion Airport, land, and sea crossings.

Passengers must, however, continue to complete an entry declaration up to 48 hours before boarding a flight or ship.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz on May 8 agreed to cancel PCR screening tests for travelers from May 20, before Monday's official announcement from the ministry.

The decision was made in light of declining morbidity figures and following discussions between professionals from the Health Ministry and officials from the Israel Airports Authority.

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