Tokyo: Authorities of National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) in Japan have found a new strain of the coronavirus in four passengers from Brazil.
The latest variant has similarities to strains found in South Africa and UK, NIID said in a release on Sunday.
Details of the variant is limited to its genetic make-up, and it’s difficult to determine how infectious the strain is immediately or effectiveness of vaccines against it, NIID said.
Japan’s ministry of health said in a release that four passengers who arrived at Haneda airport from Brazil on 2 January were diagnosed with a variant of the virus.
NIID has alerted WHO to the new strain, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported, adding the institute is probing the variant.