COVID-19 variants could drive economic hit on Tokyo up by 4 tril. yen

University of Tokyo economists estimate the Japanese capital could see an additional 4 trillion yen ($36 billion) economic hit if highly contagious coronavirus variants spread quickly across the city, but says the impact can be mitigated if infections are slowed.A relatively speedy spread of mutations in Tokyo could leave the capital dealing with over 1,400 daily infections in May -- up from around 500 seen in early April -- an increase that would make variants a major source of new COVID-19 infections by around July, the estimate shows.Such a scenario would expand an economic loss in Tokyo…READ FULL ARTICLE