New variant in Tokyo

Tokyo: Japanese health authorities have found more than 90 cases of a new variant of the Covid19 virus, the Government’s chief spokesman said yesterday.

The mutant variant, known as E484K, has been found in 91 cases in the Kanto area of eastern Japan and in 2 cases at airports, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobo Kato told reporters.

The variant is believed to be different from those that originated in Britain and South Africa, according to an earlier report by the Mainichi newspaper which cited Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases.