Japan to Quarantine Visitors from China, S. Korea over Coronavirus

Tokyo, March 5 (Jiji Press)--Japan will quarantine all visitors from China and South Korea for two weeks at designated facilities in an effort to prevent a further spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday. Abe also said his government will ban resale of face masks that has been exacerbating their supply shortages amid the coronavirus outbreak. The plans were unveiled at a meeting of the government task force on measures against COVID-19 infections. Japan will ask visitors from China and South Korea not to use public transportation. It will invalidate visas that have already been issued to them. The government will also limit arrivals from the two countries to Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo, and Kansai International Airport in the western prefecture of Osaka, halting entry into Japan by ship. The regulations will take effect at midnight on Sunday and remain in place until the end of this month. Starting at midnight on Friday, Japan will expand its entry ban to cover non-Japanese who recently visited some areas of North Gyeongsang Province in eastern South Korea, on top of the South Korean city of Daegu and Cheongdo, a county in the province. The entry ban will also newly cover Iran, banning entry into Japan of non-Japanese who visited the province of Qom. "As coronavirus cases are increasing overseas, Japan is now at a crucial stage," Abe said at the meeting. "Japan will take border measures aggressively." The prime minister ordered a ban on the resale of face masks based on the law on emergency measures aimed at ensuring stability of people's lives. The government will revise an ordinance on Tuesday to designate face masks as an item covered by the law. It plans to put the revised ordinance, which is expected to include penalties against violators, into force in mid-March. "Face masks are traded at high prices online and purchases of them for resale are aggravating supply shortages," Abe said. Also at the meeting, Abe said the government will buy 20 million reusable cloth face masks and distribute them to care facilities for elderly and disabled people as well as nursery schools and after-school care facilities. The government aims to overcome supply shortages by distributing at least one face mask per person, he said. It will also procure 15 million medical masks to provide them to hospitals facing supply shortages. END