Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 11. The Japanese government announced on the 10th that there were 8 new cases of infection with the mutant new crown virus Omi Keron strain, a total of 12 cases. In order to prepare for a new wave of epidemics that may be caused by the Omi Keron strain, the epidemic prevention department urgently prepared 10,000 rooms to isolate close contacts of confirmed cases.
Officials from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan said that the eight newly confirmed cases of Omi Keron infection were imported from abroad between the 28th of last month and the 7th of this month.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Makoto Kihara said at a regular press conference on the 10th that two of the cases were close contacts of Japan’s first Ome Keron infection, but did not provide more detailed information.
This is the international departure check-in counter at Terminal 1 of Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan, taken on November 30. After reports of Omi Kiron strain infections in many countries, the Japanese government announced in principle that it will stop new entry of foreigners from 0:00 on November 30. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu)
Japan reported its first case of Omi Kiron strain infection on November 30. The patient was a male diplomat departing from Namibia. He had completed the entire course of vaccinations against the new crown and was asymptomatic when he arrived at the airport. After genetic analysis, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan confirmed that the man was infected with the Omi Keron strain.
Kihara Seiji said: “We will thoroughly implement appropriate epidemic prevention policies, and control the epidemic situation by strengthening border control and genetic analysis.”
According to sources from the Japanese government, the above-mentioned eight persons are both male and female, and they entered Japan from Namibia, the United States, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo respectively. The two from Namibia were diagnosed when they were isolated in a facility designated by the Japanese government.
According to sources, the eight infected people were asymptomatic when they arrived at the airport. At this stage, three people from the Democratic Republic of Congo have fever and other symptoms.
The second to fourth cases of Omi Kiron strain infection in Japan have travel history to Peru, Italy and Nigeria respectively.
This is the T1 International Arrival Hall of Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan taken on November 30. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu)
Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Goto Shigeru said on the 10th that in order to deal with the Omi Keron strain, the epidemic prevention department urgently prepared 10,000 rooms to isolate close contacts of people infected with this new strain.
According to the latest policy of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, once a case of Omi Keron strain infection is found, all passengers who took the same flight as the infected person will be identified as close contacts and must undergo 14-day health surveillance in the isolation facility designated by the government. .
After reports of Omi Kiron strain infections in many places around the world, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on November 29 that the entry of foreigners should be suspended in principle, and it is expected to “close the country” again for about one month. The new entry policy is for foreign citizens who newly apply for entry, Japanese citizens and their spouses and foreign citizens with Japanese residence permit returning to Japan will not be affected.
Japan has so far accumulated more than 1.7 million confirmed cases of the new crown and more than 18,000 deaths. According to data from Kyodo News, more than 75% of the population in Japan has completed two doses of COVID-19 vaccination. (Zhang Jing)
Original title: Japan urgently prepares 10,000 rooms to isolate close contacts in response to Omi Keron strain
Editor in charge: Fu Jinhua