THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
February 5, 2020 at 15:35 JST
Returnees from the Chinese city of Wuhan stay at the National Institute of Public Health in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, on Jan. 31. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The government on Feb. 4 said Japanese returnees from Wuhan, China, on government-chartered flights will be required to remain isolated at designated facilities for 10 days instead of the previous 14 days.
The change was made after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the incubation period for the new coronavirus was 10 days, not two weeks as previously thought.
Japanese returnees will be rechecked on the 10th day of their isolation. If they test negative for the virus, they can go home on that day at the earliest, the government said.
According to the Cabinet Secretariat, the Japanese who were repatriated on the first chartered flight on Jan. 29 are scheduled to undergo the rechecks on Feb. 8.
The government has not changed its blanket ban on entry to Japan by foreign nationals who have visited the Chinese province of Hubei during the past two weeks and those whose passports were issued by the province. The capital of Hubei is Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
Only in special cases will such foreign nationals be allowed into Japan.
The Immigration Services Agency of Japan said it refused entry to three foreign nationals at an airport and seaport on Feb. 3.
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