TOKYO, April 5 (Reuters) – Japanese health authorities are worried that coronavirus variants will cause a nascent fourth wave of the pandemic with just 109 days to go to the Tokyo Olympics.
Variants appear to be more infectious and may be resistant to vaccines, which are not yet widely available in Japan. The situation is worse in Osaka, where infections hit records last week, prompting the regional government to initiate specific closure measures for a month starting Monday.
A COVID-19 mutant variant first discovered in Britain has taken over the Osaka region, spreading faster and filling hospital beds with more serious cases than the original virus, according to Koji Wada, an adviser of the government on the pandemic.
“The fourth wave will be bigger,” said Wada, a professor at Tokyo International University of Health and Wellness. “We need to start discussing how we could use these specific measures for the Tokyo area.”
Japan has twice declared a state of emergency that covered most of the country over the past year, just after New Year’s Eve, when the third deadliest wave of the pandemic occurred. Officials are now opting for more specific measures that allow local governments to shorten business hours and impose fines for non-compliance.
Osaka canceled the Olympic Torch relays there, but Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has insisted that Japan hold the Games as planned. Suga said Sunday that the measures used in Osaka could be expanded to Tokyo and elsewhere if necessary.
There were 249 new infections in Tokyo on Monday, still well below the high of more than 2,500 in January. In Osaka, 666 cases were reported on Saturday.
The true extent of the mutant cases is unknown, as only a small fraction of positive COVID-19 cases undergo the genomic study needed to find variants.
A health ministry report last week showed 678 cases of mutant variants from Britain, South Africa and Brazil, which had been discovered across the country and at airports, with the largest groups in Osaka and nearby Hyogo Prefecture. .
But another strain, known as E484K, may be more widespread. About 70% of coronavirus patients tested at a Tokyo hospital last month presented a different mutation from the British and South African varieties, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday.
The rebound in the cases came just weeks after the government withdrew emergency measures, and the priority measures being put in place now are intended to stop an unexpected increase in mutant cases, he said. Makoto Shimoaraiso, Cabinet Secretariat official for the Japanese response to COVID-19.
“We take criticism when people say we haven’t been able to detect any variants,” he said. (Rocky Swift Report in Tokyo; edited by Giles Elgood)