1st community-acquired omicron cases reported in Japan

Jiji Press

18:00 JST, December 22, 2021

OSAKA (Jiji Press) — Three residents of Osaka Prefecture with no history of overseas travel were confirmed on Wednesday to have the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, the prefectural government said.

Their infection routes are not yet known, according to the prefectural government.

Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said the new cases are community-acquired infections.

They are believed to be the first such omicron infection cases confirmed in Japan, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo metropolitan government reported 40 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, up by 11 from a week earlier, along with one new death among infected people in the capital.

The seven-day moving average of daily infections stood at 28.6, up 48.2% week on week. The number of patients with severe symptoms under the metropolitan government’s criteria was unchanged from the previous day at three.