オミクロン「ＸＥ」注視　松野官房長官

　松野博一官房長官は１２日の記者会見で、新型コロナウイルスのオミクロン株の新たな系統「ＸＥ」が空港検疫で検出されたことに関し「国内では現時点で確認されていない。科学的知見や諸外国の状況等について情報収集しつつ、変異株の動向を注視していく」と述べた。水際対策を今後どうするかは主要国の対応、日本人の帰国需要などを踏まえ、適切に判断すると語った。（2022/04/12-10:28）

The Japanese government will keep a close watch on the XE subvariant of the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Tuesday.
   The top government spokesman made the remark at a press conference after the new omicron subvariant was detected in Japan for the first time recently through airport quarantine. The XE subvariant was found in a passenger who arrived at Narita International Airport, near Tokyo, on a flight from the United States late last month.
   "We will keep a close watch on the new omicron subvariant while gathering information on scientific findings about it and on the situations in other countries," Matsuno said. "We will make an appropriate decision on border measures based on responses by other major nations and the level of demand for returning home among Japanese expatriates," he added.
   Matsuno also said that the government will send a team of four liaison officials to the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa, where new COVID-19 cases continue rising. The number of new infection cases per population of 100,000 is highest in Okinawa among Japan's 47 prefectures.
   "The team will contact the prime minister's office and ministries concerned through hotlines," he said.