Japan has banned citizens of Sri Lanka and 10 other countries from entering its borders as a precaution to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The other countries are Vietnam, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday, the Government will temporarily suspend an arrangement allowing business travelers from 11 Asian countries and regions to enter Japan, effectively banning the entry of non-resident foreign travellers.

At a news conference, Suga explained that the Government had changed its position to temporarily halt all business travellers as new COVID-19 infections spread domestically, saying that additional steps needed to be taken at borders to prevent new coronavirus variants from entering the country.

“To protect people’s lives and livelihoods, and to remove potential risks (over the pandemic), I have decided to temporarily suspend the entry of foreign business travellers,” Suga said.

In addition to “the deeply troubling” domestic coronavirus situation, there were cases of a cluster attributed to a variant from an individual who returned from the UK and of another new variant from several individuals who returned from Brazil, Suga said, explaining the reason behind the decision.

The entry restrictions will take effect from Thursday through 7 February, when the state of emergency declared for 11 countries is set to expire.

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