Japan announced on Saturday that it would temporarily ban the entry of foreigners not residing in the country, citing the risk of a new highly infectious variant of the coronavirus.
The travel ban to the country will take effect on December 28 and runs until January, government officials said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The announcement came as Tokyo hit a record number of new cases of COVID-19 this weekend, with health officials registering 949 new cases in the capital on Saturday.
Officials confirmed that a more contagious strain of the UK virus entered the country, with the first cases detected involving passengers from the United Kingdom.
Some cases of the new strain have also been found in people outside airport checks, local media reported, according to Reuters.
A recent study by British researchers found that the new COVID-19 strain is 56 percent more contagious than the previous strain.
Under the latest travel ban, Japanese citizens will be allowed to enter, but must verify proof of a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before leaving for the country and must be quarantined for two weeks after arrival.
The country’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, who took office in September, received criticism from some for being too slow to react to the growing cases of viruses in Tokyo and other major metropolitan areas of the country.
In response to record case reports, Suga urged residents to stay home, avoid New Year’s meetings and maintain social distance.
Earlier this month, Suga said he would temporarily suspend Japan’s “Go To Travel” subsidy program, an initiative initiated by the former prime minister to boost economic activity and promote domestic travel despite the ongoing pandemic.