Japan Extends Entry Ban for Foreign Visitors Amid Rising Omicron Cases

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wearing a face mask delivers his policy speech at the start of an extraordinary session of the lower house of the parliament, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 6, 2021. Issei Kato/Reuters

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday said that the government will further extend its entry ban on foreign visitors until the end of February amid a surge in the country’s Omicron cases.

Japan has been suspending new arrivals of foreign visitors since Nov. 30, 2021, while returning local citizens and foreign residents are required to undergo quarantine in designated facilities.