Japan will ban entry for foreigners after the Covid-19 variant is discovered in the country

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Japanese nationals and foreign residents can still enter, but according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, they have to quarantine themselves for 14 days.

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

The two new cases were the first to be discovered in the country outside of airport quarantine.

On Friday, five other travelers from Great Britain with the variant were detected at Japan’s international airports.

The new coronavirus variant is said to have originated in the UK and may be more transmissible. Since its discovery, more than 40 countries have restricted travel from the UK, and in some cases, travel from other countries that have documented cases with the variant.
For example, starting Monday, the US will require all travelers from the UK to undergo a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of boarding a flight to the US. Passengers must also provide documentation of their laboratory results.

Restrictions to varying degrees have been announced by countries such as Denmark, Ecuador, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine. Still others have banned travel or suspended flights from the UK, 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 another variant has been reported, according to Maria van Kerkhove of the World Health Organization.

.Source