Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced at his official residence on the 29th that he would temporarily ban the entry of new foreigners to prevent the influx of Omicron, a new mutant of the novel coronavirus infection. [사진 출처 = 연합 뉴스]The Japanese government, in principle, bans all foreigners, including South Korea, from entering the country from tomorrow to prevent the influx of a new mutation ‘Omicron’ of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
On the 29th, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (岸田文雄) announced that as a special measure to prevent Omicron, “foreigners will be banned from entering the world from the 30th.”
However, this measure is a temporary measure until some information about Omicron is revealed. Special circumstances are recognized for those who have Japanese spouses, diplomats, people in the public interest, or people in need of humanitarian consideration.
In addition, the Japanese government plans to implement strict quarantine measures for returning nationals from 14 countries/regions where the new mutation was confirmed, in addition to nine countries including South Africa where the new mutation was first discovered.
Earlier, the Japanese government banned the entry of foreigners from nine African countries, including South Africa, from 0 am on the 28th due to concerns about the spread of Omicron. In addition, Japanese returning from these countries and foreigners re-entering from these countries have been ordered to stand by in quarantine for 10 days at a facility designated as a quarantine station.
Currently, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan has classified Omicron as a ‘mutant of concern’ with the highest alert level.
Prior to this, the Japanese government has allowed limited new entry for short-term residents for business purposes, technical trainees, and international students from the 8th of this month. This was in response to growing calls for deregulation in the country.
However, when the new mutant Omicron was first discovered in South Africa and raised concerns about its global spread, the Japanese government took out an ultra-strength quarantine measure that preemptively bans foreigners from entering the country again.
[김정은 매경닷컴 기자]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
