Japan is preparing to bar all foreign arrivals from the U.S., China and South Korea in a bid to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, Nikkei has learned.
The ban will apply to foreigners who spent time in these three countries within 14 days of their planned arrival in Japan, according to a government source.
Japan's National Security Council will make the official call soon.
Japan so far has asked arrivals from these countries to self-quarantine for two weeks. But the government is imposing tougher restrictions as the U.S. now leads the world in patient count while China and South Korea still carry sizable case loads.
The Japanese government also will issue a level 3 travel advisory for the three countries, encouraging citizens to cancel all travel there.
Japan previously limited entry bans to areas hit especially hard by the outbreak, such as China's Hubei and Zhejiang provinces, the South Korean city of Daegu and northern Italy. But Tokyo on Friday added 18 European nations to that list, as well as the entire country of Iran.
