Japan fears new Covid strain, to tighten border control for Vietnamese visitors

By Nguyen Quy May 31, 2021 | 08:31 pm PT

Pedestrians wearing protective face masks are seen in Tokyo, Japan, March 18, 2021. Photo by Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon.

The Japanese government is planning stricter controls for travelers from Vietnam and Malaysia to keep out some contagious variants of Covid-19.

People coming from Vietnam and Malaysia would be quarantined at government-designated facilities for six days on arrival, Kyodo News Agency reported Monday citing government sources.

Japan Times newspaper reported that the government is on high alert for a new coronavirus variant identified in Vietnam.

Vietnamese Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said on Saturday a hybrid coronavirus variant with characteristics from the India and U.K. strains and which spreads quickly by air has been found.

Japan is scrambling to collect information and analyze the variant along with the World Health Organization and others.

At a news conference on Monday Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said no case of the new variant recorded in Vietnam has been found in Japan yet.

Since late April Vietnam has been struggling with a fourth wave of Covid and its most challenging so far. It has found 4,357 cases in 36 of its 63 cities and provinces.

Since the pandemic began last year Japan has had 744,487infections and 12,967 deaths.