By TARO ONO/ Staff Writer
August 16, 2021 at 17:23 JST
Haneda International Airport in Tokyo on July 22 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The first case of the Lambda variant of the novel coronavirus confirmed in Japan was brought by a woman arriving from Peru for the Tokyo Olympics, government sources said.
The woman, in her 30s, landed at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on July 20. She tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases later analyzed the virus data and confirmed that it was a new strain known as the Lambda variant, according to the health ministry and other sources.
In Peru, the woman’s point of departure, the Lambda variant has been wreaking havoc.
According to Pablo Tsukayama, a Peruvian molecular geneticist at the University of Cayetano Heredia in Lima, who first detected the Lambda variant, the strain's infectability is particularly strong because it has spread quickly in a span of only three months.
As of July, 80 percent of the new infection cases in Peru were caused by the Lambda variant, Tsukayama said.
The variant has been confirmed in more than 40 countries, mainly in Central and South America.
It remains unknown if the mortality rate is higher than other variants, Tsukayama said.
Japan confirms its 1st case of South African COVID-19 strain
December 29, 2020
Japan reports 1st likely community transmission of virus variant
January 19, 2021
Tokyo confirms first case of ‘double mutant’ raging in India
April 27, 2021
Japan confirms 8th person has contracted new virus variant
December 28, 2020
Japan’s easing of entry restrictions to be halted due to virus variants
December 27, 2020
Japanese Health Ministry finds new virus variant
January 11, 2021
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
