Tokyo, Dec 22 (Agency) The number of infections with the Omicron coronavirus strain in Japan has risen to 153 with the first community transmitted cases registered in Osaka Prefecture, Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. On Tuesday, the total number of infections with the Omicron strain in the country was 85. On Wednesday alone, 68 cases were registered at quarantine stations at airports. Earlier in the day, Japan’s city of Osaka reported its first three community transmitted cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant. The authorities failed to identify possible exposure routes. Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said that there might be other cases of community transmissions, and that this fact should be the starting point for preventive measures.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also expressed concern about the first intra-urban infections. “We will speedily carry out enhanced steps to contain the spread of infections in Japan,” Kishida said, as quoted by Kyodo news agency. The prime minister also stressed that the US Merck’s molnupiravir, an oral COVID-19 antiviral medicine, had shown its effectiveness in the fight against the Omicron variant. Kishida promised that the government would certify the medicine in Japan, after which 200,000 doses would be delivered to the country’s medical institutions by the end of the week. On December 17, the prime minister announced that Japan would reduce the interval for COVID-19 booster shots for senior citizens from eight to seven months from February next year in a bid to slow down the spread of the Omicron strain.