Japan Health Ministry finds new coronavirus variant

The Health Ministry of Japan has found a COVID-19 variant in people arriving from Brazil that’s different from the ones in Britain and South Africa.

The variant was identified in airport tests on a man in his 40s, a woman in her 30s and two teens, the ministry said.

Japan is working with other nations, the WHO and other medical experts to analyse the new version of the virus. It is not clear whether the current vaccines will be effective against the new variant.

About 30 cases of variants from Britain and South Africa have earlier been reported in Japan. Experts are worried the variants appear to spread faster.