Expert Panel: Japan Infections Continue To Spread
An expert panel advising Japan's health ministry says the spread of the coronavirus continues nationwide.
The panel said on Tuesday that the northern island of Hokkaido has seen a clear reduction in new cases, but that is not the case anywhere else in the country.
The experts are warning that failure to contain the virus in big cities could make it difficult to stop it spreading to rural regions.
Meanwhile, the experts are calling for caution against the risk of importing a new coronavirus variant that continues to spread in Britain. No case of the variant has been confirmed in Japan.
Researchers have pointed out the new variant is more easily transmitted, but there is no evidence so far that it is more likely to cause more serious illness.
