TOKYO: A highly contagious new variant of the novel coronavirus circulating in Britain has not been found in Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Monday.

“According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, no such virus has been confirmed in our country,” Kato told a press conference.

“The health ministry is exchanging information with the British government closely,” the top government spokesman said.

“We’ll take coronavirus countermeasures while checking the infection situations and government responses in other countries,” he added.

Tokyo will also continue to cooperate with the World Health Organization, Kato said.

At a separate press conference, health minister Norihisa Tamura said that the government will seek experts’ opinions after confirming the situation in Britain thoroughly.

“We have to consider swiftly how to respond and start taking measures,” Tamura said.

The variant found in Britain is said to be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the original virus. European countries have started tightening restrictions on entry from Britain.

Japan is confirming reported information about the responses taken in other countries through the Foreign Ministry, Tamura added.

JIJI Press