Israel's COVID-19 outbreak was mostly imported from the U.S., genomic study suggests

More than 70 percent of Israeli coronavirus samples sequenced in a Tel Aviv University study had genetic markers indicating the virus was imported from the U.S., despite the fact that only 27 percent of all positive-testing visitors to Israel arrived from America, The New York Times reports. Israel barred visitors from the U.S. on March 9, two weeks after shutting off travel from some European countries. Had Americans been blocked from entering on Feb. 26 also, the researcher conclude, "a substantial fraction of the transmission chains in Israel would have been prevented."

The researchers sequenced genomes from more than 200 randomly selected but representative COVID-19 patients from six hospital across the country. Israel has reportedly 16,650 COVID-19 cases and 277 deaths, but only 1 percent of the population has been infected with the coronavirus, said Dr. Adi Stern, lead author of the study, which has not yet been peer reviewed. At the same time, he added, Israel was able to cut its rate of transmission by two-thirds through a combination of enforced social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and closing down foreign tourism.

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