Japan will ban foreign nationals after Covid-19 was detected in the country

Japanese citizens and foreign residents can still enter, but are required to self-quarantine for 14 days, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

The move comes after the Tokyo metropolitan government on Saturday confirmed two new cases of the Covid-19 variant involving people who have recently returned from the UK.

The two new cases were the first to be discovered outside the country’s airport quarantine.

On Friday, five other passengers from Great Britain were detected with the variant at the Japanese international airports.

The new variant of coronavirus is said to originate in the UK and is potentially more transmissible. Since its discovery, more than 40 countries have restricted travel to the UK and, in some cases, travel to other countries that have documented cases with the variant.
Starting Monday, for example, the US will require all passengers in the UK to receive a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of boarding a flight to the US. Passengers will also be required to provide documentation of their laboratory results.

Restrictions of varying degrees have been announced by countries such as Denmark, Ecuador, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine. Others have banned travel or suspended flights from the United Kingdom, such as Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia and Spain.

Others have extended travel bans or restrictions to other countries where the variant has been detected, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia. A number of countries have also imposed restrictions on travel from South Africa, where a different option has been reported, according to Maria van Kerkhove of the World Health Organization.

.Source