It said the request is an emergency precaution amid growing
concern over the spread of the new omicron variant.
Those who have already made reservations are not affected,
although flights may be canceled if there are insufficient passengers, the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said. Transit passengers
are also unaffected, it said. Japan is a major transit hub for flights to and
from Asia.
The move comes as Japan confirmed a second case of the
omicron variant in a person who arrived from Peru via Doha, one day after it
reported its first case in a Namibian diplomat.
The second patient, who was fully vaccinated, tested
positive for the coronavirus upon arrival on Sunday and was isolated while
genetic sequencing was conducted. He was initially asymptomatic but has since
developed a fever and sore throat, officials said.
All the remaining 114 passengers on the flight tested
negative and are being monitored by health authorities, most of them at a
government-designated facility.
Japan banned all foreign visitors starting Tuesday. Prime
Minister Fumio Kishida said the step is an emergency precaution against the new
variant. The ban tentatively extends through the end of the year. The
government is also requiring Japanese citizens arriving in the country to
quarantine for up to 14 days.
The World Health Organization warned Monday that the global
risk from the omicron variant is “very high” based on early evidence, saying it
could lead to surges with “severe consequences.”
Much remains unknown about the new variant, including
whether it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, whether it
makes people more seriously ill, and whether it can thwart the vaccine.
Narita International Airport Corp., which operates Japan’s
main international airport near Tokyo, said it isn’t aware of any immediate changes
in flight arrivals in response to the announcement.
The decision was a disappointment for people who were
planning trips during the holiday season, including Japanese citizens living
overseas hoping to return home for the New Year period.
Many people on social media criticized the measure as too
strict, and one compared it to Japan’s feudal-era national isolation policy.
Japan had been easing social and economic activities after
infections rapidly slowed since September.
Meanwhile Japan on Wednesday started offering coronavirus
vaccine booster shots to health care workers amid growing concerns over the new
variant.
Japan’s initial vaccination drive kicked off in mid-February
and some medical workers who received shots more than nine months ago are now
eager to get additional protection ahead of a possible new wave of infections.
A group of nurses and doctors received booster shots at the
Tokyo Medical Center.
“It’s an important first step for our patients and their
families to be treated with a sense of safety,” said hospital chief Kazuhiro
Araki.
Even though the efficacy of vaccines against the new variant
is still being examined, booster shots are important, Araki said, because the
vaccines remain effective against other strains of the virus, including delta,
which put heavy pressure on Japan’s health care systems this summer.
Those who received their second shot eight months ago are
eligible for a third shot to prevent breakthrough infections. Eligibility may
be shortened to six months if there is a resurgence of infections, officials
said.
Japan’s vaccination rollout got off to a slow start but
surged from late May, and now about 77% of the population has been fully
vaccinated — a main reason experts cite for Japan’s steady slowing of infections
since September.
Booster shots for elderly people, who received their initial
inoculations starting in April, are expected to begin in January.
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