Nov 29, 2021: Japan’s will resume stringent border measures, barring all new foreign arrivals over the Omicron threat, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Monday, just weeks after easing stricter entry rules.

“From November 30, we will ban the entry of foreigners from all over the world,” Kashida told reporters.

For most of the pandemic, Japan’s borders were almost completely closed to new foreign visitors, and at one point even foreigners were unable to enter the country. In early November, the government announced that it would finally allow some short-term business travelers, foreign students and other visa holders to enter the country, while continuing to ban tourists.

Japan has already announced that it will require passengers entering Japan from nine South African countries to be quarantined for 10 days in government-designated facilities.

The move affects travelers from South Africa and neighboring countries Namibia, Lesotho, Iswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. Without elaborating, Kishida said on Monday that more quarantine restrictions would be imposed on visitors from 14 more countries where such cases were reported.

Avoiding severe lockdowns, Japan has recorded more than 18,300 deaths from the corona virus alone during the pandemic.