Five cases of a new coronavirus variant that has been spreading across Britain have been confirmed in Japan among arrivals who tested positive at airport quarantines, according to a health ministry announcement.
It is the first time the new strain has been confirmed in Japan.
According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, four men and one woman who arrived at Haneda and Kansai airports from Britain on Dec. 18-21 were confirmed to have been infected with the new variant.
The five cases include a child under 10 years old, a young adult under 20, two people in their 40s and one person in their 60s.
One of the five had complained of fatigue, but the others were asymptomatic. All of them are currently isolating at designated accommodation facilities.
The gene sequence of the virus detected in the five cases matched that of the mutant strain in Britain, according to specimen examinations conducted by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID).
From Saturday, all travelers arriving in Japan from the United Kingdom and South Africa, where the new variant has also been identified, have to stay in designated accommodation facilities even if they test negative at airport quarantines and take another test three days after their arrival. People who receive a negative result in the second test are still advised to self-quarantine at home for two weeks.
"We will take all possible measures to eliminate the possibility of the further spread of infections," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Norihisa Tamura said at a press conference on Friday.
-- NIID on alert
The NIID has been on high alert as the new variant is believed to be more transmissible than the original strain.
"If the mutant strain spreads in Japan, the current epidemic could expand further," NIID Director Takaji Wakita said at a press conference on Friday evening.
The new variant is possibly 70% more transmissible than the original strain. However, there have been no reports that it is more likely to cause severe symptoms and there is no data that indicates the effectiveness of vaccines will be reduced.
The new variant was detected in the specimens of five passengers among 68 people who tested positive in airport quarantines before Dec. 21, according to the health ministry and others.
Of the five cases, three people -- a man and woman in their 40s and a boy under 10 -- who arrived at Kansai Airport on Monday were on the same flight.
While the pathogenicity of the mutated strain and the effectiveness of the existing vaccine are still unclear, "It is very important to take measures to prevent mutated strains from entering the country. I hope people continue to avoid the risk of infections by wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding the Three Cs [closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings]," Wakita said.
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