This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. (Alissa Eckert, MSMI; Dan Higgins, MAMS. Provided by Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
A total of 271 COVID-19 cases involving variants of the novel coronavirus had been confirmed around Japan as of March 9, more than quadruple the figure from a month earlier, the health ministry said.
The cases had been reported in 21 prefectures, including Tokyo, ministry officials said March 10.
The ministry confirmed the number and the variants by collecting cases that the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) and other institutions conducted genomic analyses on.