HIROSHIMA: A resident of Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, has been confirmed infected with the omicron coronavirus variant, the prefectural government said Monday, suspecting it to be a community-acquired case.

The resident of the city of Hiroshima has no record of traveling abroad but has visited the Kansai western region where omicron cases were confirmed, prefectural officials said.

It is highly likely that the resident contracted the variant outside Hiroshima Prefecture, Eisaku Kishita, the prefecture’s public health chief, said at a press conference.

Community-acquired omicron cases have already been confirmed in five of the country’s 47 prefectures–Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Aichi.

The Hiroshima resident developed a fever and cough on Wednesday and tested positive for the virus in a polymerase chain reaction test the following day, the prefectural officials said. The resident was Sunday confirmed to have contracted omicron through genetic sequencing, they said.

The resident has been fully vaccinated against the virus and has been hospitalized with mild symptoms, the officials said. Several close contacts, including outside Hiroshima Prefecture, have tested negative for the virus in PCR tests, the officials said.

JIJI Press