EU to ban travel from Japan amid coronavirus surge

Sources say the decision was made at an ambassador-level meeting on Wednesday. Officials plan to make an announcement as early as Thursday.

With the new policy, entry from Japan will be banned in principle, except for people who have essential reasons for travel.

After banning the entry of travelers from non-EU countries in the wake of the pandemic, the bloc last July reopened its borders to visitors from certain nations that it considered were keeping the virus outbreak under control.

Seven countries, including Japan and South Korea, were on the list after the most recent review in December.

Each EU member state has to make its own decision on whether to actually ban visitors from Japan.

But all the EU nations share the understanding that they need to restrict travel both in and outside the bloc, as new variants continue to spread in the region.