Japan has tracked down another new variant of COVID-19, which apparently arrived with travelers from Brazil, the Ministry of Health said Sunday.
The official said the mutation was detected in four people who arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on January 2 after traveling from Brazil’s Amazon state.
The latest variant appears to be different from the strong contagious strains that are blamed in an explosion in cases in Britain and South Africa, the ministry said.
“At present, there is no evidence that the new variant found in Brazil is infected,” Takaji Wakita, head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, said at a health ministry briefing.
The effectiveness of vaccines against the new variant has already been investigated, the ministry said.
Japan has already declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and three prefectures near the capital after an explosion of business.
According to Johns Hopkins University data, the country has so far had nearly 289,000 confirmed cases, with 3,850 deaths.