Eleven people in Saitama Prefecture with no recent overseas travel history have tested positive for the British coronavirus variant, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
The ages of those infected ranged from under 10 to under 70.
Ten of the confirmed cases attend or work at the same children's facility, including six children under 10 years old, according to a Friday announcement from the ministry and other sources.
The ministry is treating the 10 cases as a coronavirus variant cluster and is investigating transmission routes.
Among the cases linked to the children's facility, nine developed COVID-19 late last month and one was asymptomatic, according to the announcement.
Six of the ten have been hospitalized, but none is in serious condition.
Contact-tracers have identified 61 close contacts so far, and investigations are continuing.
Excluding the 10 cases linked to the children's facility, the other case involved a man who had been in close contact with someone infected with the British variant.
A total of 22 people in Saitama Prefecture with no recent overseas travel history have tested positive for the British variant. However, a ministry official said, "We cannot say it is spreading widely in Saitama Prefecture."
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