Japan to strict COVID norms for Finland, US and several other countries

Tokyo [Japan] August 3 : The Japanese government on Monday informed that it will tighten the borders for travellers coming from several countries including states of the US and Finland, the changes have been made to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Travellers from Georgia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Luxembourg and five Russian oblasts including Astrakhan would also have to go through the same process after their arrival in Japan, Kyodo News reported.
Travellers coming from these regions would have to stay in government-designated facilities for three days after arrival and take additional virus tests on the third day.
The set of changes to border control measures will take effect from Thursday.
Japan will also shorten the quarantine period of 10 days on visitors from Afghanistan to six days in designated facilities, and subject them to more coronavirus testing on the third and sixth days after arrival, Kyodo News reported.
Meanwhile, Japan on Saturday declared a state of emergency to Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Osaka, and Okinawa Prefectures and applied priority measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to Hokkaido, Ishikawa, Kyoto, Hyogo, and Fukuoka Prefectures till August 31.
"We ask people to refrain from going out or travelling for non-essential, non-urgent reasons, and to be as careful and restrained as possible regarding returning to their hometowns during the summer and other travel," PM's Office of Japan tweeted.
"We will continue to do everything in our capacity to implement measures to prevent infections and administer vaccines," added the tweet.
Companies were urged to implement remote working policies, with the goal of reducing the number of commuters by 70 per cent. In-office employees should finish their work by 8 pm and go home directly, reported NHK World.