Japan rules out changes to COVID-19 curbs despite Omicron
Reuters
December 23, 2021 14:37 MYT
December 23, 2021 14:37 MYT
A man wearing a protective mask, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, makes his way at a restaurant district in Tokyo, Japan, December 1, 2021. - REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
TOKYO: Japan's government is not considering an immediate change to current COVID-19 restrictions, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Thursday, a day after community transmission of the Omicron variant was discovered in the country.
The government confirmed on Wednesday that a family of three based in the western city of Osaka were infected by the Omicron variant and the origin of how they had caught the virus could not be traced.
The government has started preparations to expand free testing to people who don't have COVID-19 symptoms in an attempt to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant, news agency Jiji reported on Thursday citing unnamed government sources.