Japan Plans to Widen Coronavirus-Related Entry Ban to US, China, S. Korea, Europe – Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Japanese government is planning to widen its coronavirus-related entry ban to include the US, the whole of China and South Korea, and most of Europe, the country’s Kyodo News agency reported on Monday, citing unnamed government sources.

The proposed ban would follow in the wake of restrictions announced on Thursday prohibiting foreign nationals from entering Japan if they had visited one of 21 European countries or Iran in the previous two weeks.

Japan had previously restricted entry to those who had visited China’s Hubei province or the South Korean city of Daegu, the epicenters of the outbreaks in the respective countries. Additionally, visitors from the United States had previously been required to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival in the country.

More than 1,800 cases of COVID-19 have been registered in Japan since the start of the outbreak, in addition to over 700 people who tested positive for the disease on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship that moored off the Japanese coast.