Japan bars foreign visitors as new coronavirus strain spreads

Source: The Hill | December 26, 2020 | Kaelan Deese

Japan announced Saturday it would temporarily ban nonresident foreign nationals from entering the country, citing the risk of a new, highly infectious variant of the coronavirus.

The country’s travel ban will take effect on Dec. 28 and run through January, government officials said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The announcement comes as Tokyo reached a record number of new COVID-19 cases this weekend, with health officials recording 949 new cases in the capital city on Saturday.

Officials have confirmed that a more contagious strain of the virus from the United Kingdom has entered the country, with the first detected cases involving passengers arriving from Britain.

Some cases of the new strain were also found in people outside airport checks, local media reported, according to Reuters.

A recent study by British researchers found the new COVID-19 strain is 56 percent more contagious than the previous strain.

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