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TOKYO – Japan will ban all countries to prevent the spread of Britain’s most contagious strain of coronavirus, the government announced on Saturday.
The ban will be in effect from Monday until the end of January. Japanese citizens and foreigners living in Japan may return to the country.
As of Friday, five people traveling from Britain were confirmed to be infected with the new strain, according to the government.
Since October, Japan has allowed entry to those who stay for at least three months on the condition that they are quarantined for 14 days. The emergence of the new strain prompted the government to remove the UK from the list on Thursday and South Africa on Saturday. Now the issuance of all those long-term visas will be suspended.
A 14-day quarantine request will be applied to all Japanese returning from abroad.
Before making the decision, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga discussed a response to the detection of the new strain with officials at the health ministry.
Suga had signaled on Friday that he would issue new measures to contain the spread of the new strain.
In addition to the UK, the new strain has been detected in Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, and Germany. The variant is said to be 70% more contagious than the original strain, but it doesn’t seem to make people sicker.
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