The Japanese authorities recorded a previously unknown mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection in a traveler returning from abroad.
Kyodo reported this, citing a statement from the local Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.
On March 12, it became known that a new variant of the virus was found in an elderly man who, on February 25, flew from the Philippines to the Narita International Airport near Tokyo.
After quarantining at the airport, he tested positive.
The strain found in him differs from the British, South African, and Brazilian, which were identified in Japan a couple of months ago. In this case, the mutant virus is considered no less dangerous.
We will remind, earlier it became known that Japan is faced with the problem of vaccination of the population against coronavirus — the country lacks both doses of drugs and special syringes for injections.
So far, only Pfizer / BioNTech’s COVID vaccines are being used in this country, but the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines are already pending approval.
