The Shizuoka city government Saturday said that a man infected with the omicron coronavirus variant has died, reporting Japan’s first confirmed omicron-linked death.

The aged man with severe pre-existing conditions died at a medical institution in the capital of Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, on Tuesday.

His infection with the highly contagious variant has been confirmed through genomic testing, the city government said.

The omicron variant was first reported by South Africa in November last year. What appears the world’s first fatal case was confirmed in Britain on Dec. 13 last year.

As the new variant replaces the delta strain quickly, the weekly number of the world’s new coronavirus cases has hit a record high of over 15 million.

Meanwhile, the weekly number of coronavirus deaths is staying around 50,000, far lower than the peak of over 100,000.

According to the health ministry, 3,699 people had been confirmed to be infected with the omicron variant in Japan as of Thursday.

So far, 80 to 90 percent of all new coronavirus cases in the country are believed to be infections with the omicron strain.

In Okinawa Prefecture, where the variant is raging, over 90 pct of omicron carriers have been found to have no or mild symptoms.