National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan authorities said they found a new strain of coronavirus in four passengers arriving from Brazil.
The new variant has similarities to the strains found in the UK and South Africa, NIID said in a statement on Sunday. Information about the new variant is limited to its genetic makeup and it is difficult to immediately determine how infectious the strain or the effectiveness of current vaccines against it is, the institute said.
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Health of Japan said that the four passengers who arrived at the Japanese Haneda airport in Brazil on January 2 were later diagnosed with a variant of the virus. A 40-year-old man, who was asymptomatic on arrival, was hospitalized as his respiratory system worsened.
NIID briefed World Health Organization on new strain, Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported, adding that the institute is investigating whether the variant causes more severe cases.
(Updates with patient details in the third paragraph)