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Japan to refuse entry from U.S., China, S. Korea over virus

The Japanese government is considering refusing entry by non-Japanese people arriving from the United States, China and South Korea in response to the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)
The Japanese government is considering refusing entry by non-Japanese people arriving from the United States, China and South Korea in response to the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)
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30 Mar 2020 05:03:24 GMT9
30 Mar 2020 05:03:24 GMT9

TOKYO: The Japanese government is considering refusing entry by non-Japanese people arriving from the United States, China and South Korea in response to the coronavirus pandemic, informed sources said Monday.

Based on the immigration control law, Japan will deny entry by foreigners who have been to any of the three countries in the past two weeks. The government is also considering adding almost all of Europe and some South American countries, such as Brazil, to the list of nations subject to the entry ban, the sources said.

"Japan will continue to steadily take appropriate border measures as needed in order to prevent the further spread of the virus worldwide and prevent entry by infected people into Japan," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference on Monday.

Japan, which has already introduced the entry ban for travelers from some regions of China and South Korea, will expand the measure to cover all areas of the two neighboring countries.

Since Thursday, Japan has been asking all travelers from the United States, including Japanese nationals, to stay at designated places for two weeks. But Tokyo now sees the need to refuse entry by foreigners from the United States, where infection cases are surging, a senior official of Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

As for Europe, Japan's entry ban currently covers 23 countries, including Italy, Spain, France and Germany.

Before officially deciding to expand the list, the ministry plans to raise its travel alert to the countries to be additionally covered by the entry ban to Level 3, the second highest under its four-tier alert system, calling for avoiding all travel to the nations.

But some are concerned that refusing entry from the United States, with which Japan has closer relations than with other nations, could increase burdens on quarantine officials at ports and airports and have negative effects on activities by U.S. forces in Japan.

JIJI Press

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