TOKYO : Japanese doctors have detected a fast-spreading variant of the new coronavirus first discovered in Britain in three people who had not travelled there, the Health Ministry said on Monday.The three, aged from their 20s to their 60s and living in Shizuoka prefecture, about 200 km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, first had symptoms in early January, the ministry said.A health ministry official said that the authorities are looking into how the three became infected but that there was no proof yet that the variant first detected in Britain was spreading in Shizuoka now.Japan has so far detected 45 cases of new variants of the virus that were first spotted in Britain, South Africa and Brazil, he said.Japan earlier this month expanded a state
coronavirus. Villagers in Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture in the south west of Japan spent two months building the life-like statue – which has eyes which glow red in the night and stands at an impressive 23 feet tall.The structure has been called ‘Giant Straw Scarecrow Gorilla: Proud Gorilla 2020’ and is due to stand watch over the town until the end of the month.
There are 10 cases of COVID-19 to report in managed isolation in New Zealand since our last media statement on Friday. One of these cases is classified as historical and deemed not infectious.