TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that his country is adding 14 more countries, including Russia, Peru and Saudi Arabia, to the entry ban list as the country steps up border control and coronavirus infections continued to spread in the country.
Japan already has banned entry from more than 70 other countries, banning foreigners with records of visiting those countries in the past two weeks, and invalidating visas for the rest of the world. The additional step on the 14 countries will take effect Wednesday, Abe said.
The entry ban and the visa restrictions, initially set to end on April 30, are extended until the end of May.
Japan is under a month-long state of emergency through May 6. Officials and experts are gauging its effect and whether to extend the measure.
Japan has 13,385 confirmed cases, and 712 others from a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo this year, with 364 deaths, according to the health ministry.
New Zealand Cautiously Moves Ahead
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand reported five new coronavirus cases Monday as the nation got ready to ease the rules on a strict lockdown at midnight.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there has not been widespread community transmission of the virus and the country has managed to avoid the worst scenarios for an outbreak. She said it would continue to hunt down the last few cases.
At midnight, certain businesses such as construction will be allowed to reopen, but social distancing rules will still apply. Ardern said the nation was opening up the economy, but not people's social lives.
Only 10 New Cases in South Korea on Sunday
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea reported only 10 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, its 26th straight day below 100 as officials mulled reopening schools amid the slowing caseload.
The figures released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday brought the national totals to 10,738 cases and 243 deaths.
At least 1,044 infections have been linked to international arrivals, but such cases have declined in recent weeks amid tightened border controls.
Using an active test-and-quarantine program, South Korea has managed to slow its outbreak without imposing lockdowns or business bans. But schools remain shut while providing children remote learning.
Prime Minster Chung Sye-kyun during a virus meeting Monday instructed education officials to prepare measures to ensure hygiene and enforce distance between students at schools so the government could announce a timeline for reopening schools no later than early May.
China Breathes a Sigh of Relief
BEIJING — China reported just three new coronavirus cases Monday, and no new deaths for the 12th day in a row.
A total of 723 people remain hospitalized and just under 1,000 were being kept in isolation and under monitoring for being suspected cases or for having tested positive for Covid-19 without showing symptoms.
Beijing added one additional postmortem death to its count, raising China's overall death toll to 4,633 among 82,830 cases. Of the new cases, two were imported and one was detected in the province of Heilongjiang bordering Russia, according to the National Health Commission.
Improvised Memorial for Marine Killed in Iraq
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The family of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq in March had to postpone his memorial service because of restrictions on large gatherings in California to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
On Sunday morning, they were surprised with a parade outside their Simi Valley home that began with a police helicopter flyover, followed by about 1,500 law enforcement vehicles, fire engines and cars.
The Ventura County Star reports the huge turnout to honor Gunnery Sgt. Diego D. Pongo was orderly.
Pongo's sister-in-law helped organize the parade to surprise his parents and brothers. The city's police department helped with traffic control.