COVID-19 'XE Variant' with Higher Transmission than Omicron Confirmed in Japan

People wearing masks are moving in a shopping district in Shinagawa-gu, Tokyo, Japan.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The first case of infection with the new COVID-19 variant 'XE' has been confirmed in Japan. XE is a recombinant variant of Omicron (BA.1) and Stealth Omicron (BA.2).

On the 11th, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that the first case of XE infection was confirmed during quarantine procedures for a person arriving from overseas.

XE, known to have higher transmissibility than the existing Omicron variants, has previously been detected in countries such as the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Thailand, India, and Brazil.

According to Japanese media including NHK and Kyodo News, the infected individual is a woman in her 30s who had been staying in the United States and entered Japan through Narita Airport on the 26th of last month.

She tested positive for COVID-19 during airport quarantine, and subsequent genetic analysis by Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases revealed the XE infection.

The Ministry of Health stated, "We will cooperate with foreign governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), and experts to monitor the XE infection situation abroad and strive to implement agile measures to prevent the spread of infection."

Meanwhile, Japan's sixth wave of COVID-19 peaked in early to mid-February, after which new cases declined but have recently started to rise again.

Looking at the weekly average daily number of confirmed cases, the highest was 93,238 from February 5 to 11, followed by a decline to a low of 38,671 from March 19 to 25, and then an increase to 48,504 from April 4 to 10, marking a 25.4% rise from the low point.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.