Japan Confirms 3 More Coronavirus Variant Cases

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)--Japan's health ministry said Thursday that three residents of Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, have tested positive for a novel coronavirus variant that is spreading in Britain.

This marked the first variant cases confirmed in Saitama. The three, in their 20s or 30s, have never been overseas while sharing the workplace with a Tokyo man in his 40s whose infection with the British variant was announced on Monday. The man may have infected the three, according to the ministry.

The cumulative number of coronavirus variant infection cases in Japan rose to 56.

A public health office found the three as it searched for people who may have had contact with the Tokyo man, and the variant was detected from them through a detailed examination by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the ministry said.

The three were hospitalized in Saitama after developing COVID-19 symptoms on Jan. 19-20. None of them is in serious condition. Nine people who have had close contact with the three are now being tested to see if they are infected with the variant.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]