Alert for new variants of covid-19 0:47
(CNN) -
Japan's Ministry of Health reported that several passengers who, in early January, traveled from Brazil, quarantined themselves and tested positive for covid-19, were infected with a variant of the virus that appears similar to the variants. which were seen for the first time in the UK and South Africa.
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The four passengers had been in the Brazilian state of Amazonas and landed at Tokyo's Haneda airport on January 2, Japan's Health Ministry said in a statement Sunday.
The four passengers had been in the Brazilian state of Amazonas and landed at Tokyo's Haneda airport on January 2.
(Photo by PHILIP FONG / AFP via Getty Images)
Brazil's Health Ministry said it was notified by its Japanese counterpart on Saturday.
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Health authorities have been concerned about newer variants of the virus, such as those first identified in the UK and South Africa, because they appear to be more easily transmitted.
There is no evidence that new variants of the virus like those first seen in the UK and South Africa are more dangerous or can evade the effects of vaccines.
The Japanese Ministry of Health cannot yet say whether the variant found in passengers from Brazil is more transmissible.
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