TOKYO: The Tokyo metropolitan government said Friday that two people have been newly confirmed to be infected with the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus.

   They include a man in his 20s who had close contact with a woman in her 20s who had already tested positive for the variant. The man attended the Emperor’s Cup semifinal soccer match at Todoroki Athletics Stadium in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, on Sunday as a spectator.

   Three members of his family and seven people at his workplace were recognized as having had close contact with the man, according to the Tokyo government and others.

   The metropolitan government and others are encouraging around 80 spectators who were seated around the man at the soccer match to be tested for the variant. Authorities have also urged such people to refrain from leaving their homes if they feel unwell.

   The other individual found to have been infected with the variant is a man in his 50s who returned to Japan from the United States on Saturday.

   Although he tested negative for the virus at a quarantine check at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda, he developed COVID-19 symptoms on Sunday. The man is currently being treated at a hospital.

   The man had received two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine from U.S. drug giant Pfizer Inc.

   Three members of his family were recognized as having had close contact, but they all tested negative for the virus.

JIJI Press