Niigata Prefecture announced on the 7th that infection with a new mutant virus "Omicron strain" of the new coronavirus was confirmed for the first time in the prefecture.
According to Niigata Prefecture, infection with the Omicron strain was confirmed in one person in his twenties living in the prefecture.
It started earlier this month, and a screening test revealed that it was not a Delta strain, and a genome analysis at the Prefectural Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences confirmed infection with the Omicron strain.
He had no history of traveling abroad and had traveled to and from outside the prefecture.
In Niigata prefecture, there are 22 other people suspected of being Omicron strains in the screening test, so the prefecture is proceeding with detailed tests.