Japan confirms fourth case of Omicron variant

Dec 09 (NHK) - Health officials in Japan have confirmed the country's fourth case of the Omicron variant.

The health ministry says the infected man is in his 50s and had visited Nigeria. He was quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus upon arrival at Narita Airport near Tokyo on Saturday. His test sample was sent for further genomic analysis.

A panel of experts is advising the government to boost testing in response to the global spread of the variant.

They're calling for close analysis of all positive samples in the country especially from those who have been abroad.

The experts are also warning that the downward trend in new cases may have stopped. Authorities across Japan confirmed 136 new infections and 3 deaths on Wednesday. Tokyo had 21 new cases. The daily tally in the capital has been below 30 for the past 27 days.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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