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Coronavirus: Japan’s cases hit new record before Paralympics; Philippines extends travel ban on India and 9 other countries
- New daily infections in Japan exceeded 20,000 for the first time
- Meanwhile, South Koreans have been urged to minimise holiday travel and companies have been asked to let people work from home
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday urged people to refrain from travelling as Covid-19 cases spiked to new records in Tokyo and nationwide, heaping pressure on the medical system.
His comments follow health expert recommendations to strengthen states of emergency now in place in the capital and other hot spots.
Days after the end of the Tokyo Olympics, Paralympic organisers decided to hold the event mostly without spectators to limit infection risks, local media reported.
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Suga said the government will strive to restrain the flow of people in commercial areas, and he urged residents to avoid travelling during Japan’s traditional Obon holidays.
“I would like to ask citizens to avoid going back to their home towns or travelling, and to refrain from going out unnecessarily,” Suga told reporters.
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Japan is experiencing a fifth wave of Covid-19, driven by the highly infectious Delta variant. A woman related to the Olympics was identified as Japan’s first case of the Lambda variant of the virus, first identified in Peru, Kyodo reported on Friday, citing government sources.
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