The Japanese government will extend the entry ban on non-resident foreigners until the end of February, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday.
The ban has been in effect since November 30, after the country confirmed its first case of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Japan has introduced the measures initially scheduled for about a month, barring entry to non-resident aliens and requiring Japanese nationals and returning foreign residents to remain in quarantine at facilities designated by the government.
Japan has also banned the return of foreign residents to the country who have visited 11 countries, including South Africa, within 14 days, but will lift the restriction on “humanitarian grounds.”
