Four people who arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport from Brazil earlier this month were infected with a coronavirus variant different from those found in Britain and South Africa, Japanese media reported on Sunday, citing Japan's Health Ministry.

The ministry identified the ages of the four people as teens to adults in their 40s, with all of them having stayed in the state of Amazonas in Brazil.

The four people arrived at the airport on January 2. They tested positive after airport quarantine, said the ministry.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country have reached 288,338 with 3,826 deaths, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.