Japan to lift ban on re-entry of foreign residents despite surge in number of virus infections

The Japanese government will lift a ban from next week on the re-entry of some foreign residents, imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus, the Foreign Ministry has said.

Up to 90,000 foreign nationals with residence permits, including students, businesspeople and trainees, are currently stuck outside Japan after re-entry was banned from over 100 countries.

From August 5, those who left Japan before their destination countries were added to the ban list will be able to apply to return, the ministry said.

Japan is bracing for a surge in its number of coronavirus infections after fresh cases exceeded the 1,000 mark for the first time. Tokyo confirmed 367 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, topping the previous record of 366 cases on July 23, NHK said. A week ago, Japan started a national travel campaign to revive the tourism industry.