Japan eases travel advisory for 36 nations, allows nonessential trip

TOKYO: Japan on Thursday eased its travel warning for 36 countries and areas, including the United States, Britain, Canada and Hong Kong, over the coronavirus pandemic, no longer asking Japanese citizens to avoid nonessential trips to the areas.

The Foreign Ministry lowered its travel advisories for those countries, which also include Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, from the third-highest Level 2 on its four-point scale to Level 1, which advises Japanese nationals traveling those regions to "stay fully alert", Kyodo news reported.

In addition, advisories for other 15 nations and areas were downgraded from Level 3, which warns to avoid all travel, to Level 2. Among them are seven in the Middle East and Africa, six in Europe and two in Latin America.

"On the whole, the world is seeing a downward trend in the number of new infection cases and deaths, and the risk of suffering severe symptoms and deaths has been seen receding," the ministry said in a press release.

Meanwhile, 109 nations and regions remained under the Level 2 warning, including 30 in Asia, such as China, South Korea and India, as well as 35 European nations, including Germany, France, and Italy. At the same time, 41 countries were left unchanged at Level 3, it reported.

-- BERNAMA