Foreigners from 10 countries, including South Africa, are also banned from re-entry.
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(Tokyo = Yonhap News) Correspondent Ho-Jun Kim = The Japanese government has further strengthened entry restrictions when a new mutation of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), Omicron, has emerged in Japan.
At a regular press conference on the 1st, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, a spokesman for the government, announced that the re-entry of foreigners from 10 countries, including South Africa, would in principle be banned in response to the mutation in Omicron.
Re-entry refers to the act of re-entering Japan after visiting a foreign country by a foreigner who has the qualifications (visa) to stay in Japan.
The re-entry ban applies to South Africa, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Angola.
Regarding these 10 countries, Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno explained, “From a preventive point of view, we have decided to reject not only new entry by foreigners but also re-entry of foreigners with residence status for the time being unless there are special circumstances.”
(Narita = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Se-won = Narita City, Chiba Prefecture, the gateway to the Japanese metropolitan area, on the 30th of last month, the first day that the Japanese government tightened entry regulations to block the inflow of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) Omicron mutation. A person wearing a mask is working at the security checkpoint at Narita International Airport. 2021.11.30 sewonlee@yna.co.kr
Previously, the Japanese government banned new entry of foreigners from nine South African countries, including South Africa, from the 28th of last month in order to block the inflow of Omicron, and from the previous day, it has been refusing new entry of foreigners from all over the world in principle.
Although re-entry is allowed for foreigners with Japanese status of residence, from the 2nd of this month, 10 countries in South Africa will be denied re-entry in sequence.
It is interpreted that the entry restrictions were strengthened as it was confirmed the day before that a man in his 30s, who arrived from Namibia on the 28th of last month, was infected with the Omicron mutation.
The Namibian diplomat is the first confirmed case of Omicron confirmed in Japan. (Reporter Assistant: Correspondent Sakiko Murata)
hojun@yna.co.kr
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2021/12/01 12:12 Send
