New COVID-19 Strain Registered In Japan: Nikkei Asia

Japan has registered a new COVID-19 strain, not seen anywhere else.

What Happened: Japan has found a new COVID-19 strain, different from those registered in the UK and South Africa, Nikkei Asia has reported.

Four people — women and men of different age groups — who arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Jan. 2 from Brazil tested positive at the airport. 

The symptoms they experienced included fever, sore throat and difficulty breathing. The strain seemed similar to the one registered in South Africa and the UK, but it also had differences, making it a different mutation of the virus. Overall, 34 cases of this new strain have been found in the country, according to Nikkei Asia.

Why It Matters: Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has already notified the World Health Organization about these developments. But at the moment, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan says it is very difficult to define the transmissibility and danger of this strain.

There’ve been 89,918,092 cases registered worldwide since the pandemic started, according to the John Hopkins coronavirus map, with over 22.2 million reported in the US alone. The US registered a new all-time high number, 252,056 cases, yesterday.

A new, more transmissible strain was found in the U.K. in December and led to a new, tier-four lockdown in the country. Before the lockdown, it spread to at least 33 countries, including the US, the Intelligencer has reported.