by Linda Straker
- Japan extends travel ban to foreign nationals travelling from 128 countries including Grenada
- Returning Japanese nationals subject to PCR tests
- Grenada’s refuse-entry list not updated since March
As part of Japan’s border enforcement measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, non-Japan nationals who have stayed in or travelled through Grenada within 14 days prior to application for landing, will be denied permission to enter Japan. The measures will be in place until the last day of July and may be renewed according to an advisory posted on Japan’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs website.
Since April, Japan has been putting out advisories announcing countries that are on its banned list. At present, nationals of 129 countries are banned from entering.
According to the advisory, all Japanese nationals arriving from the countries and regions will be subjected to PCR tests. “All nationals arriving from all regions are called upon to wait 14 days at a location designated by the quarantine station chief and to refrain from using public transportation until the last day of July,” the release added.
In early March, Grenada announced that it would refuse entry to nationals from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Germany. The first country announced on the refuse entry list was China, on 2 February 2020. At the time of the announcement, these countries were Covid-19 hotspots. The list has not yet been updated.
When Grenada confirmed its first Covid-19 case on 22 March, which was an imported case from the United Kingdom, the government closed the airport. It has remained closed to commercial passenger flights but accepts charter and cargo flights.