It was early to shut its borders and close schools. With the exception of its decision to hold the Summer Olympics, Japan has been cautious throughout the pandemic. Wealthier Asian countries like Japan resisted the pressure to reopen. Other countries, like Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, were allowing tourists from certain countries to arrive in restricted areas. Thailand had recently reopened to tourists from 63 countries, and Cambodia had just started to welcome vaccinated visitors with minimal restrictions. Japan had already lagged countries in Southeast Asia, where the economies are dependent on tourism revenues and governments tiptoed out in front in the push to reopen. Masaki said, referring to Japan’s isolationist era between the 17th and mid-19th centuries. “It will be like Japan being left behind in the Edo Period,” Mr. The government’s decision to close again reflects its desire to preserve its successes battling the virus and to prevent the kind of strain on the health care system that it experienced over the summer during an outbreak of the Delta variant.īut as cases diminished, he said, the continuation of firm border restrictions threatened to stymie economic progress. Sri Lanka, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand have all barred travelers from southern Africa, where the variant was first reported.Īlthough the true threat of the new variant is not yet clear, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan told reporters on Monday that he had decided to revoke the relaxations for business travelers and international students in order to “avoid the worst-case scenario.” Australia, which only recently started allowing citizens and visa holders to travel abroad, said on Monday that it would delay a relaxation of its border restrictions. Taiwan has prohibited nearly all nonresidents from entering since early in the pandemic. Personality Changes: New research suggests that Covid's disruption of social rituals and rites of passage have made people less extroverted, creative, agreeable and conscientious.Ĭhina, which has barred international tourists since the start of the pandemic, is so far still issuing visas for work or diplomatic purposes, although limited flight options and lengthy quarantines have deterred travelers.Updated Boosters: New findings show that Pfizer’s updated booster is better than its predecessor at increasing the antibody levels of people over age 55 against the most common version of the virus now circulating.Long Covid: People who took the antiviral drug Paxlovid within a few days after being infected with the coronavirus were less likely to experience long Covid months later, a study found.Warnings of a ‘Tripledemic’: An expected winter rise in Covid cases appears poised to collide with a resurgent flu season and a third pathogen straining pediatric hospitals in some states.
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