An elderly Palestinian man receives a shot of the Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine in the West Bank city of Nablus on March 22, 2021. (Photo: AFP)

JERUSALEM, March 30 (Xinhua) --has discovered an unknown mutated strain of coronavirus, the country's Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

The strain was detected in a new study conducted by the ministry's central virology laboratory located at the Sheba Medical Center in central Israel.

The study examined and summarized the COVID-19 strains that have existed in Israel since the outbreak of the pandemic in February 2020 until January.

According to the ministry, the unknown strain appeared in 181 samples, the first of which were taken in July.

The newly detected strain is not associated with widespread infection or severe morbidity, the ministry added. Enditem