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The Ministry of Health of Japan announced today that a new variant of the coronavirus was detected in four travelers who were in Brazil, more specifically from the state of Amazonas. They arrived in Tokyo at Haneda airport on January 2 and tested positive during the quarantine imposed on travelers.
Although the agencies have reported that they are Brazilian, there is still no confirmation on the nationality of those infected.
Of the four travelers, a man in his 40s had respiratory problems, a woman in his 30s reported headaches and sore throats, and a teenager had a fever. According to the government of Japan, the other infected, a teenager, showed no symptoms.
A ministry official said studies were underway to determine the effectiveness of vaccines against the new variant, which is different from those found in the UK and South Africa and led to a number of new cases.
“As of now, there is no evidence to show that this new found variant is highly infectious,” said Takaji Wakita, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan.
After the growth in the number of new cases of coronavirus, Japan declared a state of emergency on Thursday 7 in Tokyo and cities surrounding the capital. The country already adds almost 290 thousand cases of covid-19, with 4,061 deaths as a result. disease.
The Amazon, where the travelers departed, faces another explosion in the number of people infected and killed by the coronavirus. The mayor of Manaus, David Almeida (Avante), decreed a state of emergency in the city for a period of 180 days to try to contain the advance of the pandemic. The state government also declared a state of public calamity for the next six months.
OR Twitter contacted the Ministry of Health and Itamaraty, but has not yet received a response.
Other variants
The UK and South African variants of the coronavirus share a common mutation called N501Y, a slight change in the spike protein surrounding the virus. This change is believed to be the reason why they spread so quickly. The variant was already detected in São Paulo in December. Most of the vaccines that are launched in the world train the body to recognize this protein and fight it.
This week, pharmaceutical company Pfizer published the results of a study that showed the effectiveness of the company’s vaccine against 16 new variants. However, research has yet to include other mutations. In South Africa, for example, the variant has an additional mutation, called E484K, already identified in samples in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. AA E484K was not among those tested in the survey. The pharmacist says that she is next on the list.
The case registered in Bahia belongs to a health professional who was reinfected by the coronavirus in October. He had no history of traveling to South Africa and also revealed to investigators that he did not know if anyone he had had contact with was in the country.
* With information from Reuters and Estadão Content.
