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Japan Bans Entry To All Foreign Nationals Over COVID Variant Fears

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Over the past week several dozen countries have banned travel to and from the UK –  and to a lesser extent South Africa – over reports of variant strains of COVID-19 that appear to be more transmissible (see  PrePrint: Estimated Transmissibility & Severity Of UK SARS-CoV-2 Variant – CMMID).

Saudi Arabia went even further on Monday, and closed their borders to all foreign nationals for a week (see Canada, India & Italy Join Growing List Of Countries Banning Travel To/From The UK).

Since then the number of countries reporting the UK variant has increased markedly (see here, here, and here). Japan reported their first 5 known cases yesterday (see Japan MOH Reports 5 Cases Of UK Variant COVID), which has prompted them to up the ante today and ban – starting Dec. 28th – the arrival of all foreign nationals until the end of January.

This English language report from The Japan Times.

Japan to halt new entry of foreign nationals over new virus strain

The Japanese government said Saturday it will ban new entries of all non-Japanese nationals from around the globe in principle from Dec. 28 through the end of January. | KYODO

KYODO, JIJI
 
Dec 27, 2020

(Continue . . . ) 

 

The prospect of dealing with a more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 virus is a genuine concern for all countries, but is particularly unnerving to Asian nations which have had to deal primarily with the Asian lineage of the virus, one which is supposedly less transmissible than the D614G mutation that appeared in Europe last February and rapidly become the dominant strain.

For now there are still more questions than answers regarding how much of an increased threat the UK variant (or the lesser known South African variant) truly pose (see CDC: Implications of the Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variant VUI 202012/01).

But assuming these variants do substantially increase the impact of this pandemic, there is still the thorny problem that the UK variant (and possibly the South African variant, as well), appear to have already made significant inroads into dozens of countries around the world. 

Which means that border closings may be too little, and too late, to do much good. 

Acrobat of divisions

Lignes invisibiles

From one edge to the other,

at the crossing of the bridge

you would see at your left

like golden curls from the sun above the water

in multiple jumps

without any predetermined rhythm.

To the right you would turn your gaze to look

you would see more water,

which the rock cleverly separates in two,

light from darkness.

So this side, keeps its waters dark

and the shadows cool every move that would look plastic.

Imagine this little head,

which with his mind

feeds the optical illusion.

It’s like this that it thinks it walks on an acrobatic rope made out of stone

and not on a bridge;

but that’s the way it should be,

as the wind blows

the body, which moves across the bridge.

If you saw it from somewhere far or near,

left with all naturalness it was in every push of the wind;

neither resisting…

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Trump Urges Supporters to Pack DC When Congress Counts Electoral Votes – Mother Jones

On Saturday morning, the day after Christmas, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to continue his attack on political institutions and figures who have failed to get in line with his authoritarian mission of overturning the democratic will of America’s voters, who, after four years of his administration, clearly chose his opponent. Source: Trump Urges Supporters to Pack DC When Congress Counts Electoral Votes – Mother Jones

Graham: Trump ‘more determined than ever’ to get bigger stimulus payments

Where was he four months ago? Where was his proposal months ago? – all for show and blow…

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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Friday night after spending part of the day with President Trump that the president is “more determined than ever” to stick by his demand for bigger stimulus payments for Americans than t…

Tel Aviv research: 99.9% of COVID-19 virus in 30 seconds with UV LEDs – The Jerusalem Post

“UV LEDs have a huge future,” she added. “Of course, as always, when it comes to ultraviolet radiation, it is important to make it clear to people that it is dangerous to try to use this method to disinfect surfaces inside homes. You need to know how to design these systems and how to work with them so that you are not directly exposed to the light.” Source: Tel Aviv research: 99.9% of COVID-19 virus in 30 seconds with UV LEDs – The Jerusalem Post