Japan announced Saturday that it would temporarily ban the entry of non-resident foreign nationals, citing the risk of a new highly infectious variant of the coronavirus.
The ban on traveling to the country will take effect on December 28 and will last until January, government officials said in a statement, Reuters reports.
The announcement comes as Tokyo hit a record number of new COVID-19 cases this weekend, and health officials registered 949 new cases in the capital on Saturday.
Officials have confirmed that a more contagious strain of the UK virus has entered the country, with the first cases detected involving British passengers.
According to Reuters, some cases of the new strain were also found in people outside the airport checkpoints.
A recent study by British researchers found that the new COVID-19 strain is 56 percent more contagious than the previous strain.
Under the latest travel ban, Japanese citizens will be allowed to enter, but will have to verify proof of a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before leaving for the nation and will have to be quarantined two weeks later. of arrival.
The country’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, who took office in September, has received criticism from some for being too slow to react to the rise in virus cases in Tokyo and other major metropolitan areas across the country.
In response to historical case reports, Suga urged residents to stay home, avoid New Year’s Eve meetings and maintain social distancing.
Earlier this month, Suga said it would temporarily halt Japan’s “Go To Travel” grant program, an initiative initiated by the former prime minister to boost economic activity and promote domestic travel despite the ongoing pandemic.