TOKYO, Dec 1, (Asia Free Press) Government of Japan has extended its travel ban on foreigners coming into the country, stopping entry to those resident statuses from 10 southern African nations, according to Reuters’ sources.
Two Japan-based airlines ANA and JAL, also said they were suspending new objections for international flights to Japan till the end of December and Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), Japan Broadcasting Corporation, said the government was seeking a halt to all such reservations.
Japan took some severest steps on the previous Monday by closing its borders to non-Japanese for about a month in light of the emergence of Omicron, a new variant of Covid-19. A day later, Reuters reported that Japan’s first Omicron case – in a Namibian diplomat – was discovered.
Japanese media also reported on Wednesday that a second case of the Omicron virus had been confirmed in a traveller. NHK said it was a foreign man, and FNN television said it was a traveller from Peru.
“The decision applies to foreign residents from South Africa, Eswatini, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Angola, Botswana and Zimbabwe, Hirokazu Matsuno, Chief Cabinet Secretary.
“From the view of prevention, we won’t just restrict new entry by foreigners but also returning foreigners with resident status, unless there are special extenuating circumstances,” Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference.
Japanese Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto later said his ministry was in contact with local governments to keep an eye on the fellow passengers, Reuters reported.
After emerging a new variant of Covid-19 in Southern Africa, different countries have taken some restrictions to protect their countries from new variants.
