Japan will impose a 14-day quarantine on all travellers from the Chinese mainland, Macau and Hong Kong, and suspend visa exemptions for Macau and Hong Kong visitors as the island nation tightens immigration controls amid the COVID-19 outbreak, according to reports by Hong Kong and local media Thursday.
The quarantine measures are set to kick in on Monday and will be effective until the end of this month, the reports said.
As of Thursday, Japan – including the Diamond Princess case – had 1,057 confirmed cases of the virus and recorded 12 deaths, the reports said.
The quarantine policy also applies to visitors from South Korea, the second worst affected country with 6,088 confirmed infections and 40 deaths, the reports underlined.
Japan’s Justice Minister Masako Mori wrote on Twitter Thursday that a visa exemption for Macau and Hong Kong visitors would also be suspended.
Under the exemption, Macau and Hong Kong passport holders were able to stay in Japan for up to 90 days without a visa, the reports noted.
According to the reports, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly also requested that flights from the Chinese mainland, Macau, Hong Kong and South Korea use only two major airports: Narita, east of Tokyo, and Kansai in Osaka prefecture.
The reports did not mention Taiwan.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
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