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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday announced plans to ease border controls starting in early September by eliminating pre-departure Covid-19 testing needs for travelers who have received at least 3 doses of the vaccine, and will also expand daily access limits as soon as possible. as much as possible. next month.
Japan, which has imposed some of the strict border measures over the coronavirus, recently demands negative effects of the PCR test within 72 hours of departure for all participants, a practice that has been criticized as cumbersome.
Kishida, after holding virtual meetings with government ministers and medical advisers earlier Wednesday, told reporters at an online press conference that participants who have won at least one booster shot can opt out of pre-entry starting Sept. 7.
“We gradually plan border controls to allow access procedures to be as straightforward as those of other Group of Seven countries,” Kishida said from his official residence, where he was on duty while isolating himself after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. . .
Kishida said his government also plans to increase the limit for inbound travelers, recently set at 20,000, “as soon as possible. “Media reports imply that the government plans to more than double the limit to 50,000 as soon as next month.
“Our fight against the virus is not easy, but we deserve not to be too scared and instead the characteristics of the omicron variant,” Kishida said. “We will strengthen our responses while balancing infection measures and social and economic activities as much as possible. “
Kishida said Japan plans to shorten the era of self-isolation for COVID-19 patients from the existing 10 days for those with symptoms and one week for those without symptoms. Authorities are finalizing those details, he said.
In June, Japan partially opened its borders to foreign tourists for the first time in two years, but only allows those who agree to participate in tour packages with guides. The number of participants has decreased due to these restrictions.
Professional organizations in Japan and abroad have called on the country to reduce its border controls on the economy, especially the tourism industry, which has been severely affected by the pandemic. But many Japanese are reluctant to scale back additional border measures as the country grapples with a seventh wave of infections.
Clinics have been flooded with patients with mild symptoms such as fever, sore throat and cough, amid a lack of medicine cabinets in pharmacies and online.
As the United States remembers September 11 with moments of silence, the U. S. president of the United States. U. S. Secretary of State Joe Biden will celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Pentagon attacks on Sunday. Shanksville, Pensilvania. La Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband are scheduled to visit the World Trade Center in New York City, the new AP firm said.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II may help initiate a reconciliation between Prince Harry and his wife Meghan and the rest of the royal family, following a reported breakup and their resettlement in the United States. Britain, when the Queen died on Thursday, met Harry’s brother William and his wife Kate at Windsor Castle on Saturday. It was their first joint public appearance since they moved to the United States in early 2020.
A magnitude 7. 6 earthquake struck northeastern Papua New Guinea on Sunday morning, a day after a series of tremors were felt in the region. The earthquake struck the town of Kainantu in eastern New Guinea at 6:46 a. m. m. local time (5:16 a. m. IST). The latitude of the earthquake is 6. 224S while the longitude is 146. 471E. Since then, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has eliminated the risk of tsunami in the region.
King Charles III officially proclaimed Canada’s monarch on Saturday in a rite in Ottawa. Charles automatically became king when Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday. Charles is now the head of state in Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth of the former colonies. Recent visits have attracted sparse crowds. Overall, the motion against royalty in Canada is small, meaning Charles will almost remain king of Canada. Governor-General Mary Simon also participated.
Some “2,000 kilometers of Ukrainian territory” have been liberated, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday amid a seven-month war with Russia, whose troops invaded the Eastern European country on Feb. 24, prompting a primary escalation in tensions between the two nations. On Thursday, army commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said his troops had retaken 1,000 kilometers (nearly 400 miles) of territory from Russian forces, according to the AFP news agency.
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