Japan rules out travel curbs despite Tokyo's new Covid-19 cases touching record

Japan is cautiously and slowly reopening its borders. It has set a daily cap on visa entries and requires tourists to be on chaperoned tour groups. Despite the resurgence of new Covid-19 cases, PM Fumio Kishida has ruled out re-imposing nationwide movement curbs in the near future.

Tokyo reported an unprecedented 40,406 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, eclipsing the previous daily record made last week, as new more contagious omicron subvariants emerge.

Japan’s capital city registered 7 deaths and 27 cases with serious symptoms, according to a statement from the local government. The hospital bed occupancy rate is at 50.3, it said. The country overall added 209,600 cases as of Wednesday, pushing the total tally of infections past 11.9 million.

Despite the resurgence of new cases, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ruled out re-imposing nationwide movement curbs in the near future. Local governments, however, are issuing advisories or restrictions to contain the spread. Japan’s third most-populous prefecture Osaka is urging elderly to refrain from going out unless necessary while Okinawa, a popular travel destination, is imposing social-distancing measures on its residents.

The 7-day rolling average of confirmed cases in Japan was 1,480 per million people on July 27 -- the highest level among G-7 nations, according to Our World in Data. But the death rate remains the lowest among G-7 countries.

While most countries have lifted border restrictions fully, the country with the world’s largest elderly population is taking a unique approach by removing restrictions for domestic residents while keeping a tight vigil on its borders.

Japan is cautiously and slowly reopening its borders. It has set a daily cap on visa entries and requires tourists to be on chaperoned tour groups.