OSAKA (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) - Japan reported on Wednesday (Dec 22) its first instance of community spread infection from the Omicron variant of coronavirus.  

Health minister Shigeyuki Goto said three infections of the Omicron variant in the prefecture of Osaka were cases of community transfer because the infection route was not clear.

However, the new variant probably hasn’t spread to a wider region, Mr Goto said.

The cases are from the same family and none of the people travelled abroad, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told a coronavirus policy meeting on Wednesday.

“I believe this counts as a case of community transfer. I think this will become the first in Osaka prefecture, and the first in the country,” Mr Yoshimura said.  

Osaka prefecture is a major business hub in western Japan, home of companies including Sharp Corp and an area that experienced the early outbreaks of the Delta variant earlier in the pandemic.  

Stocks briefly erased gains after broadcaster NHK reported the cases. The Topix closed 0.1 per cent higher after recovering from the dip.

Japan has so far only reported a handful of cases of the new variant, mostly in the densely populated Tokyo area.

They were until now all linked to those entering from overseas, or people who have been in close contact with them.

As Omicron fears grow, the world’s third-largest economy has tightened up border restrictions and promised to speed up booster shots.  

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday said its Covid-19 border controls, some of the strictest in the world, would remain in place for the time being.  

Japan has had 1.73 million coronavirus infections and 18,391 deaths since the pandemic began, but the rate of new infections has been falling.