Coronavirus: Japan confirms first Omicron infection

Japan said the patient from Namibia is staying in a medical facility and the government is aware of his close contacts

Elsewhere, Singapore said two travellers from Johannesburg who tested positive for the Omicron variant in Sydney had transited through Changi airport

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People wait to be transported to a quarantine facility after arriving at the airport in Narita, Japan. Photo: Jiji Press/AFP

Published: 9:32am, 30 Nov 2021Updated: 3:53pm, 1 Dec 2021

Japan on Tuesday confirmed its first case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in a man who had arrived in the country from Namibia.

The man in his 30s had earlier tested positive for the coronavirus at the airport, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

The patient is staying in a medical facility and the government is aware of his close contacts, Matsuno said, declining to give the man’s nationality.

Japan shut its borders to foreigners on Tuesday for at least a month, among the strictest measures in the world to halt entry of Omicron, recently discovered in southern Africa and declared a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization.

Meanwhile, Japanese drug maker Shionogi wants to start developing an Omicron Covid-19 vaccine candidate, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, citing an official at the company.

The company’s primary focus remains on its current vaccine under development that it wants to start distributing in financial year through March.

Two with Omicron transit Singapore airport

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