Mar 23 (Japan Today) - Japan will ask travelers arriving from the United States to self-quarantine for 14 days to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday.
During the two-weeks, travelers will be required to themselves isolate in places such as their homes or hotels and avoid using public transportation. The measure will be effective from Thursday through the end of April, Abe said.
Japan has taken similar steps for travelers from China, South Korea, Iran, Egypt and most of Europe after the outbreak of the pneumonia-causing virus, which started in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, began progressively spreading to many other nations.
Japan's Foreign Ministry urged the public to avoid nonessential travel to the whole of the United States, raising its warning level by one notch in response to the spread of infections there.
The U.S. State Department on Thursday advised Americans to avoid all international travel, raising its global health warning to the highest level of 4.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also set its warning for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, in Japan to its highest level, citing "widespread, ongoing transmission." It recommends nonessential travel should be avoided.
Japan has so far escaped a surge in domestic infections, but the number of cases has topped 1,800, including about 700 from the formerly quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship.
But the total number of cases has risen steadily, with some "clusters," or groups of infections, found in parts of Japan. Urban areas have seen cases of infection grow.
