Japan keeps border controls as it prepares for omicron surge

Japan PM Fumio Kishida said the stringent border controls have helped slow the variant’s spread and “bought time” to prepare for an imminent surge.

Japan will keep its borders closed to most foreign citizens through February as it attempts to accelerate booster shots for elderly people and expand hospital capacity to cope with the rapidly spreading omicron variant, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday.

Japan briefly eased border controls in November after cases rapidly declined, but quickly reinstated a ban on most foreign entrants after the highly transmissible new variant emerged.