TOKYO, April 5 (Reuters) – Japanese health authorities are worried that coronavirus variants are leading a fourth wave of pandemics, with only 109 days left until the Tokyo Olympics.
The variants appear to be more infectious and may be resistant to vaccines, which are not yet widely available in Japan. The situation is worst in Osaka, where infections hit new highs last week, prompting the regional government to begin targeted blockades for a month.
A mutant variant COVID-19 first discovered in the UK has spread to the Osaka region, spreading faster and filling hospital beds with more serious cases than the original virus, according to Koji Wada, a government adviser on the pandemic.
“The fourth wave will be bigger,” said Wada, a professor at Tokyo International University of Health and Welfare. “We need to start discussing how we can use these specific measures for the Tokyo area.”
Japan has twice declared a state of emergency that has covered most of the country in the last year, most recently just after the New Year, when it hit the third and deadliest wave of the pandemic. Officials are now opting for better targeted measures that allow local governments to reduce their work schedule and impose fines for non-compliance.
Osaka canceled the Olympic Torch relay events there, but Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga insisted that Japan hold the Games as scheduled. Suga said on Sunday that the measures used in Osaka could be extended to Tokyo and elsewhere if necessary.
There were 249 new infections in Tokyo on Monday, well below the peak of more than 2,500 in January. In Osaka, 666 cases were reported on Saturday.
The true extent of the mutant cases is not known, as only a small proportion of COVID-19 positive cases are subjected to the genomic study required to find variants.
A Health Ministry report last week found 678 cases of mutant variants in the UK, South Africa and Brazil were discovered nationally and at airports, with the largest clusters in Osaka and near Hyogo Prefecture.
But another strain, known as E484K, may be more widespread. About 70 percent of coronavirus patients tested at a hospital in Tokyo last month had a different mutation from British and South African varieties, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday.
The comeback came a few weeks after the government removed the emergency measures, and the priority measures now being launched are meant to stop an unexpected rise in mutant cases, said Makoto Shimoaraiso, an official in the cabinet secretariat for Japan’s COVID response. 19.
“We take criticism when people say we have failed to detect any options,” he said. (Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Giles Elgood)