Tokyo girl suspected as first local case of UK coronavirus strain

Child had no known contact with overseas travelers

2021122N UK variant Tokyo

Commuters in masks cross a Tokyo street: the Japanese capital is in the midst of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Kai Fujii)

YUSUKE KONISHI, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- The new coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K. has been found in a Tokyo girl with no travel history and no known contact with overseas travelers, the Japanese health ministry announced Friday.

This is the first suspected case of community transmission in the city of this variant, which is said to be 70% more transmissible than the main form of the virus.

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