TOKYO: The Japanese government said Thursday at a meeting of the newly created national headquarters on the coronavirus response, that it will ask travelers from seven Southeast Asian countries and some Middle Eastern and African countries to self quarantine for two weeks amid the COVID 19 crisis.

Visas issued in these countries, including Singapore and Israel, will be invalidated, and visa exemptions for travelers from them will be suspended.

These measures will take effect at midnight on Friday (3 p.m. GMT) and continue until the end of April.

The 14-day self-quarantine applies to arrivals from Qatar, Israel, Brunei, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Bahrain,Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Countries that will be subject to the entry ban are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Iran, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Vatican.

Entry by non-Japanese people who have history of being there within the past 14 days will not be approved for the time being starting at midnight on Thursday.

The government also said the strengthened quarantine for travelers from China and South Korea and the visa restrictions on the two countries will be extended to the end of April.