Woman infected in Japan's 1st Lambda variant case linked to Olympics

Thanks for the safe and secure Olympics, Bach.

Here's a bit of an eye-opening article about Lambda recently in Newsweek, stating how University of Tokyo scientists think Lamda is even more vaccine resistant:

There is concern over the threat posed by the Lambda variant of COVID-19 which may be more resistant to vaccines than the original version of the virus.

Research by a team from the University of Tokyo, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that three mutations in Lambda's spike protein help it resist neutralization by vaccine-induced antibodies.

https://www.newsweek.com/lambda-covid-variant-potential-threat-society-researchers-1616556

If a country insist on holding international events with thousands of people entering the country it means that every new variant has a better chance of doing the same.

And here's how Lamda... well just read it yourself:

Tokyo Covered Up Arrival of Deadly New COVID Variant Just Before the Olympics

Three days before the Olympics began, on July 20, Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) reported to an international organization that the highly infectious Lambda variant had been detected in an airport test in Japan for the first time, but did not announce it widely to the public.

*The source said there was a plan to announce the variant’s detection but *not until after the Olympics.

--

Actually, the announcement of Lamda in Japan was last Friday, Aug 7th. So they didn't wait till the Games were fully over (but they did wait over 2 weeks).

Well, at least they detected at the airport. No need for any fear mongering.

Even the most secure borders in China couldn't prevent the delta from arriving so i see no need to go frantic about a variant arriving. The purpose of being fully vaccinated is that it help boast the immune system and make it less likely that you die from the virus even if you catches it. You have to be extremely unlucky to die if you are fully vaccinated. So the whole point is to go get your shots even if all kind of variant exist.

"is likely to have been" moved to quarantine accommodation ... call me cynical but, geez .... i hope so!

They really do not learn do they! Straight out of the CCP’S Wuhan play book, and that turned out so well! Proves beyond any conceivable doubt where their priorities lay and concern for the people they are purported to serve is it one of them.

Even the most secure borders in China couldn't prevent the delta from arriving so i see no need to go frantic

The CCP closed down local travel but allowed international travel when the Wuhan virus first emerged. Referring to china's borders as "the most secure" is a misnomer.

From what I've read on the news (MSNBC, CBC, NBC) all reported that the Lambda strain appears to be less serious than originally thought but that the Delta is thought to be both more infectious and more deadly than initially thought- although the scientists that came on said that it is still too soon to definitively say..

Japan's authorities prioritized concealment than information disclosure as ever.

The sources said the woman had developed no symptoms and is likely to have been moved to quarantine accommodation.

Typical Japanese way nover to be precise & specific - always keep things ambigious so that no one csn be help respinsible when the shxx hits the fan

Well the same playbook is repeating itself again - shxx indeed has hit the fan but no one will ever take any responsibility here

Biggest irony is the Japanese peoppe themselves will not take responsibility - will not turn out for upcoming elections and the old gaurd who will participate in elections will ensure another win for LDP

No wonder things dont change here - sorry to say but sometimes i feel Japanese people deserve this present state of things due to thier apathy..,,

Before this article, I read before a week or two before that the Japanese Government kept a lid on this case for the time period of the Olympics and only mentioned it after the Olympics.

Woman infected in Japan's 1st Lambda variant case linked to Olympics

Blaming the gaijin for internal problems, to avoid taking responsibility.

Yes Olympics was not a good idea, but everyone knows the virus and all different strains were moving freely in Japan, its izakayas, offices (no remote working remember?) and so on.

Remember initially when foreigners would go through quarantine upon arrival in Japan and japanese citizens weren’t required, neither were asked a COVID negative test prior to flying to Japan?

Well that and many other bad decisions would result in disaster, sooner or later.

Was later in order to not cancel the Olympics, don’t think this timing was a coincidence or just “perfect timing”.

The “foreign virus” theory didn’t go well. Time to give up on the nationalist speech J-Gov and take responsibility? Or not convinced yet?

Lambda now...vaccines won't work on it I am told..so why bother ??!

Biggest irony is the Japanese peoppe themselves will not take responsibility - will not turn out for upcoming elections and the old gaurd who will participate in elections will ensure another win for LDP

No wonder things dont change here - sorry to say but sometimes i feel Japanese people deserve this present state of things due to thier apathy..,,

I couldn't agree more.

This was the first case of lambda variant detected in Japan. Certainly not the first case of lambda variant in Japan, but it was definitely more difficult to find it without testing for variants (and simply without testing at all), which has been the case for a very, very long time. The fact that people can actually think any of the existing variants have been brought to Japan or spread by the Olympics is surreal, especially in light of the months during which Japanese citizens - as reminded by @AG above - could go in and out of the country untested and without quarantine.

Lambda now...vaccines won't work on it I am told..so why bother ??!

Told by who - a qualified epidemiologist directly involved in vaccine R&D, or just some guy in the pub / message boards?

So why bother? - Because the vaccines are proven to be effective on all strains of the virus currently circulating, and therefore getting vaccinated protects yourself as well as others around you.

Also, because going against all the evidence we have in favor of the vaccines just because of some hearsay or unsubstantiated gossip you might have heard is not just incredibly silly, but very Fox News.

Just imagine how many of those 500+ passed it on to those not associated to the Olympics.

Thank you very much Suga and Bach for giving us this deadly gift!!!

The woman in her 30s had traveled to Peru where the variant, feared to be more contagious and more resistant to vaccines, was first detected. She arrived at Haneda airport in Tokyo on July 20 with her Olympic accreditation card, according to the sources.

I’m a little confused. Should “to Peru” in the report be “from Peru”???

Credit due to @AlfieNoakes for breaking this news ‘yesterday’:

Thank you once again @AlfieNoakes 6:06pm for information heretofore unreported. Assuming your permission, worth reposting: [and now the Lambda variant is on its way from S. America.]

“It's been here since before the Olympics, only the government decided to say nothing:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/tokyo-deliberately-left-deadly-new-lambda-covid-variant-out-of-press-briefings-during-olympics

To summarize:

“The variant, first detected in Peru in Dec 2020, is highly infectious and potentially resistant to vaccines.” - “ On July 17, the Lambda variant was on a watch list due to concerns from preliminary scientific reports that the variant could be highly transmissible and possibly vaccine resistant. On July 20, when the passenger from Peru tested positive for COVID-19, alarm bells went off.” -

“We worked around the clock to make the call and sound the alarm, and the Ministry kept quiet” -

Snowy - The news was broken by the writers of the Daily Beast story, I just copy pasted the link here, which was quickly deleted. This Kyodo "version" of the story fails to mention the salient point that the Health Ministry has admitted they suppressed the news about the Lamba variant because the Olympics were about to start.

NormToday 07:55 am JST

The sources said the woman had developed no symptoms and is likely to have been moved to quarantine accommodation.

What exactly does "likely" mean?

It means she more than likely took a train from the airport straight to the crowded Ueno area to go shopping before catching local trains and subways home to prepare information for further travel the next day for the in person meeting to discuss her role with the person who would replace her for duties during the Games.

By the time the Omega variant comes along we'll either all be immune or dead or both!!

No problem @Burning Bush. Our winter boosters for those of us vaccinated will give us the additional protection if needed. That's the idea.

The sources said the woman had developed no symptoms and is likely to have been moved to quarantine accommodation.

I'm worried about the word 'likely'.

Placing trust in the Japanese government is surely misplaced after this fiasco which joins a long line of them…

..also @Burning Bush: No one actually has a clear idea yet if the Efficacy of the RNA vaccines is use of Japan are effective against this variant as there aren't any reliable studies as yet. It's only in the last 2-3 weeks that any reliable data of them against the Delta variant can be considered reliable.

Scared of the needle mate? I'm terrified of them, but needs must.

the government covered the case untill recently. I cannot trust it in many ways.

Good to see the secure Olympic bubble was watertight Mr suga, you rock!

No shock whatsoever.

There was no "Olympic bubble". Ever.

Anyone who believes otherwise would also believe the stories of magic unicorns and rainbows spun by the IOC about their Tokyo trainwreck.

This nightmare never ends.

The apathy and tendency to vote in the same incompetent LDP fossils despite their never ending failures is beyond comprehension for those of us that come from real " advanced countries". 

The above must surely be meant as sarcasm since much is "beyond comprehension" if you come from the USA or UK, two countries gerrymandered by right-wing political parties that cynically batten on befuddled supine electorates. With this one case we surely haven't heard the last of Lamda and it wouldn't surprise if Epsilon wasn't far behind, either. These "Groundhog" variants may pose a real threat to the peace and stability that make living in "advanced countries" tolerable.

I bet my socks the media here will slander her. I'm guessing it's only a matter of days before her full name and then possibly her face comes out. And it will all be "her fault", of course, because she'll be seen on TV...

The Lambda variant has not been designated as of interest or concern in Japan.

Sigh.. As always - until there is a problem, we don't care. The notion of exceptionalism is completely wrong, yet much publicized.

The world is going to look like a zombie movie by the time they get to the zeta variant.

The world is going to look like a zombie movie by the time they get to the zeta variant.

Zeta already exists. Its between Delta and Lamda.

I think you meant Omega.

Doesn't follow epsilon on delta?

And what happened to the other 5 letters before lambda? Don't be so wasteful, otherwise the alphabet runs out of letters before reaching herd immunity.

Don’t worry about those few Greek letters. The even more fitting Chinese character set has several tens of thousands signs left in store.

The lambda variant seems mostly to affect the vaxxed, as figures from the places with high vaxx rate and intensive monitoring (Israel, Iceland, Gibraltar) show.

Luckily, I am fully vaccinated. I suggest everyone else do the same when you can.

Who goes to Peru? And especially in Covid times? Who is this woman?

No need for the fear anymore, no need to take the experimental vaccines either. Ivermectin has been proven to work in India. Take a look at the states there that used it and refused it. Amazing. Just have to get the governments out of the big pharma sales bidness.

@Zaphid and @ FizzBit. Are you both living in some parallel universe? Japan is in trouble and you are spreading mistruths which others believe. More dangerous than the Virus itself. STILL going down this much disproved Ivermectin rubbish.

no need to take the experimental vaccines either.

Over 4 billion doses administered and it's "experimental".

By that reasoning, there has never been a drug that wasn't experimental.

Idiots.

Earlier this week, a representative of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) apologized on a television news program for the government’s failure to promptly announce the findings—and offered a remarkable excuse: “We would’ve said something if the media had asked us earlier.”

Wow! The Japanese government is keeping secrets because the media does not ask better questions. That is a new one. Not really!

It seems to be a common behavior in Japan to put the blame on someone else!

The woman in her 30s had traveled to Peru where the variant, feared to be more contagious and more resistant to vaccines, was first detected. 

Feared with no data to back it up of course.

Who goes to Peru? And especially in Covid times? Who is this woman?

As the artical says, she is a woman who travelled to Peru in connection with the Olympics

.

Coronavirus cases related to the Olympics that closed Sunday totaled 553.

Oh no you don't. We won't have a full accounting of coronavirus cases related to the Olympics until several weeks after the last visitor has left. There were plenty of Olympians and staff who violated the so-called 'bubble' after the closing ceremony and before they left, and then had the chance to infect all the staff at the exit airports as well. This number had better not be considered to be a fixed, finite number.

Paul: it's not Suga and Bach you should be thanking for this deadly gift......

It's Premier Xi Jinping, the world's most deceitful leader, and his acolytes in the pernicious CCP.

Every chance you get, Boycott China !!

We warned Suga and Bach that the Olympics would make the pandemic worse. We were not listened to. Now we have Lambda, the first variant linked to the Olympics. Is Lambda worth any number of gold medals?

What on earth is the "lambda" variant? This ridiculous nomenclature just causes confusion. I had to look it up and it turns out this is really the 'Peru variant', and is common in South America. At least call it the 'lambada variant' and give us a clue! Then we will know about the perils of travelling to that part of the world.

If a country insist on holding international events with thousands of people entering the country it means that every new variant has a better chance of doing the same.

That's true but thousands enter every day anyway. Blaming the Olympics while turning a blind-eye to everything else is getting pretty ridiculous.

People here keep mentioning " herd immunity ". I do not believe it will ever happen, not with this virus. It will just keep evolving and mutating and the only thing we will be able to do is to play catch-up and make new vaccines for the new variants. At least 30% will refuse to vaccinate and those 30% and those who refuse booster shots will be the Petri dish for this virus.

Paul

At least 30% will refuse to vaccinate and those 30% and those who refuse booster shots will be the Petri dish for this virus.

So you do not know that the majority of recent cases (Lambda variant) are vaccinated?

They knew about this before the Olympics, but chose to keep it quiet.

Interesting that these seem like fraternity names. What’s next? TKE? KEG?

If it wasn’t reported by the Daily Beast then the Japanese Government would have hidden this forever! Even the response from the Japanese Minister was hilarious saying that if media had asked us about it before then we would have told them about it…lol ! Olympics / ParaOlympics is the priority instead of the safety of people! The corrupt IOC executives will laugh their way out of Japan with loaded bags filled with cash and gifts!

There is no evidence that this infected person didn’t use public transportation or actually did undergo quarantine! The word “ Likely” sums it up!

What is the nationality of this mystery woman ?, Typical Kyodo, It seems like the author is trying hard to obscure than report the facts.

I wonder if there are, and, how many Japanese variants that the government have kept quiet about. I would also question the ability of and the quality of testing for variants in Japan.

Never heard of it before.

they "likely" have no idea what the situation really is

Also if they were diverted from the Olympics from arrival then they never got there, and thus the headline is just for attention not facts

divindaAug. 14  06:35 am JST

Thanks for the safe and secure Olympics, Bach.

More like 'thanks for nothing'. I hope Bach is happy now. Greedy bastard.

Now the fallout begins.

Here it comes. I remember when they were saying in the media that Delta was just a thing overseas and that there were just one or two cases in japan and they could control it. Oh, they said the same about the variant before that, and about the original. Who remembers the DP ? Things haven't changed since this pandemic began. Best prepare yourselves for Lambda.

ToraToday 04:35 pm JST

Here it comes. I remember when they were saying in the media that Delta was just a thing overseas and that there were just one or two cases in japan and they could control it. Oh, they said the same about the variant before that, and about the original. Who remembers the DP ? Things haven't changed since this pandemic began. Best prepare yourselves for Lambda.

Yes, January 16th 2020 to be precise:

“The chances are slim that the infection will spread (in Japan),” a health ministry official said.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/16/national/science-health/japan-first-coronavirus-case/

Lies, lies and more lies.

ZaphodAug. 14  07:40 pm JST

Paul

At least 30% will refuse to vaccinate and those 30% and those who refuse booster shots will be the Petri dish for this virus.

So you do not know that the majority of recent cases (Lambda variant) are vaccinated?

Read what I wrote a few times and then you might comprehend it!

Trying to navigate through all the fake websites by mostly anti vaxxers masquerading as medical advice or science sites can be difficult.

But after hours I finally got several actual real medical and scientific sites and information.

Peru did a large part of its Vaccination using sinopharm which now is shown to be at best 50% effective against Lambda.

So 38 million Sinopharm doses have been used.

Pfizer is now being used with about 30 million delivered but not fully administered yet.

Pfizer AZ and Moderna are all showing far better effectiveness against Lambda than Sinopharm.

The majority of data pointing to Lambda not being stopped by vaccine comes from Chile where 93% of those vaccinated are Sinovac only 7% Pfizer.

So take the "vaccines don't work against Lambda" with a very big grain of salt.

Lambda has been in the USA for some time now and nothing major has happened because A-) it isn't nearly as contagious as Delta, B-) Pfizer Moderna are fairly effective against it.