Live updates: Israeli death due to delta, not omicron

TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli hospital says a man who was reported to have died from the omicron variant of the coronavirus was found to have the delta variant.

Israeli health officials reported the death earlier this week. It would have been the country’s first omicron casualty.

Soroka Hospital, located in the southern city of Beersheba, said Thursday that final test results from the Israeli Health Ministry indicated the man was infected with delta.

Israel has identified 341 cases of omicron. It has greatly restricted air traffic in and out of the country and is imposing a series of public restrictions to prevent the spread of the highly contagious variant.

The Health Ministry director is also considering whether to administer a second booster shot to at-risk groups, following a recommendation by a medical advisory group.

Israel, a country of 9.3 million people, has reported over 8,200 COVID-19 deaths during the pandemic.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:

— Ever-morphing coronavirus requires holiday calculus for 2nd winter

— Omicron less likely to put you in the hospital, British studies say

— US Supreme Court to hold special session on worker vaccine requirements

Go to https://APNews.com/coronavirus-pandemic for updates throughout the day.

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:

BEIJING — China is redoubling efforts to control new virus outbreaks with a lockdown of the 13 million residents of the northern city of Xi’an following a spike in coronavirus cases.

The measure comes just weeks before the country hosts the Winter Olympics in Beijing, roughly 1,000 kilometers (6210 miles)...