Japan expands state of emergency as coronavirus cases soar but many say it is too late

Japan has just expanded its state of emergency to cover another seven regions as the country confronts record numbers of coronavirus infections and a new mutant strain from Brazil.

Japan’s health ministry announced it had detected the variant in four travellers from Brazil’s Amazonas state, which had 12 mutations — including one also found in highly infectious variants discovered in England and South Africa.

The four people are in their teens and 40s and were detected by the country’s airport quarantine checks after arriving at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport earlier this month.

The country notified the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday and further analysis on the variant is underway.

Japan recorded 4,539 new infections on Tuesday after a…