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The Prime Minister in Action
32nd Meeting of the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters
April 27, 2020
Photograph of the Prime Minister making a statement (1)
Photograph of the Prime Minister making a statement (2)
Photograph of the Prime Minister making a statement (3)
Photograph of the Prime Minister making a statement (4)
[Provisional Translation]
On April 27, 2020, the Prime Minister held the 32nd meeting of the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s Office.
At the meeting, the participants discussed the response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Following the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
“Regarding the novel coronavirus disease, the total number of patients worldwide has reached 3 million and the spread of infections is not subsiding. We have therefore decided to further review the border controls.
For the 14 countries, including Russia, Peru, and Saudi Arabia, for which we raised the Travel Advice and Warning on Infectious Diseases to Level 3 on April 24, last week, we decided to add them to the areas from which we will deny entry in accordance with the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act. This will be effective as of 0:00 a.m., April 29.
This will bring the total number of countries and regions from which we will deny entry to 87. We will continue to ensure that PCR screenings are conducted, at airport, for all Japanese and other nationals returning to Japan from these areas.
We have secured hotels and other facilities to serve as waiting spaces while returnees await their screening results, and the relevant ministries and agencies are working together to execute relevant operations at airports. I ask you to ensure thorough implementation so as to continue to thoroughly grasp the carriers.
Furthermore, with regard to measures we have implemented to date, such as tightened quarantine, including requests to voluntarily stay indoors for 14 days; visa restrictions; and restricting the arrival of flights to certain airports; we will extend the duration by one month, until the end of May, in light of the current situation where infections continue to spread globally.
I ask each of you to continue to make efforts to thoroughly implement border controls, in addition to the measures to prevent the spread of infections domestically, focusing on reducing people-to-people contact by 80%.”
