Society

Japan to halt special entry for athletes over new virus variants

Dec 30 (Kyodo) - The Japanese government has decided to suspend special entry conditions for athletes and team staff from countries and regions where new, potentially more infectious variants of the coronavirus have been found, sources with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.

The policy, which will be in place until the end of January, could affect athletes and staff planning to attend competitions and training camps in preparation for the postponed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next summer.

The government has already notified the Japanese Olympic Committee and other bodies likely to be impacted by the changes, according to the sources.

The tougher conditions for athletes are in line with the suspension since Monday of new entries into Japan by nonresident foreign nationals arriving from most of the world.

Japanese athletes with special permission to attend practice and competitions immediately upon reentry must now undertake a full 14-day quarantine if arriving from the designated countries and regions including Belgium, Britain, France, Italy and South Africa.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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