THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
August 19, 2021 at 13:55 JST
Haneda International Airport in Tokyo on July 22 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The health ministry failed to share information about people suspected in close contact with an Olympic staff member who became Japan’s first confirmed case of the Lambda variant of the novel coronavirus.
The infected woman, in her 30s, traveled from Peru and landed at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on July 20. She tested positive upon arrival.
Ministry officials were supposed to send a list of names of those believed to be in close contact with the woman to the Tokyo Olympics organizer and local governments where they planned to stay.
But that did not happen, the ministry said.
“It was an omission during our handling of many issues,” a ministry official said on Aug. 18. “A major problem is that we don’t have a system to double-check.”
Passengers seated within two rows of the Peruvian woman, both front and back, were likely exposed to the virus.
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