Japan bans visitors from 111 countries, regions, including Philippines

Japan is expanding its entry ban to India and 10 other nations as part of efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday.

The move, which takes effect Wednesday and will remain in place "for the time being," means foreign nationals who have been to these areas within the last 14 days will be turned away upon arrival.

The other countries are Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ghana, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, South Africa and Tajikistan.

The Foreign Ministry had raised its travel advisory for the 11 nations last week, urging against any trips to the areas.

With their addition, the number of countries and regions covered by Japan's entry ban climbs to 111, including the United States, most of Asia including China and South Korea, and all of Europe.

The ban covers all foreign nationals who have stayed in any of the areas listed in the following table within 14 days prior to the application for landing.

Asia    
Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Viet Nam

Oceania    
Australia, New Zealand

North America    
Canada, United States

Latin America and the Caribbean    
Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Uruguay

Europe    
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican

Middle East    
Bahrain, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates

Africa    
Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Morocco, Sao Tome and Principe

Speaking at a meeting of a government task force on the coronavirus response, Abe also said Japan will maintain other border control measures, including visa suspensions and a 14-day quarantine period for all arrivals including Japanese nationals, until the end of June.

• Abe declares coronavirus emergency over in Japan

The number of foreign travelers to Japan has plummeted since the measures were introduced, dealing a heavy blow to the world's third-largest economy.

Inbound figures were down 99.9 percent in April from a year earlier to just 2,900, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.

==Kyodo