JAPAN’s largest business lobby has urged the government to lift the entry ban on non-resident foreigners as it hindered business especially on tie-ups, merges and acquisitions.
Japan Business Federation chief Masakazu Tokura said that the nearly two months of border restrictions have only hampered domestic companies from making business trips and having smooth negotiations with foreign partners.
According to a Kyodo News report, the head of the powerful business lobby group which is also known as Keidanren in Japan, said there was no point keeping the measure in place given that the Omicron variant had already become the dominant strain in Japan.
Japan had reimposed the restrictions on Nov 30, hoping to keep the Omicron variant at bay and preventing its spread.
Despite this, most domestic infections are now caused by the highly transmissible strain, with Japan’s daily Covid-19 cases exceeding 50,000 last Saturday, setting a record number of infections for a fifth straight day.
“We are not doing business only at home,” Tokura said, calling the current entry ban a “policy of seclusion.”
Tokura, who is also chairman of Sumitomo Chemical Co, also said that the government should shorten the current quarantine period of 10 days for people who have been in close contact with someone infected with Omicron, as it will help business continuity for companies.
“Why does Japan impose 10 days when the rest of the world requires only five?” he asked.
Meanwhile in another development, the health ministry said a record 327 day care centres have temporarily shut down in Japan due to the coronavirus resurgence, causing problems for working parents.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of such facilities suspending their operations as of last Thursday, excluding privately operated or locally licensed ones, increased fourfold in a week.
A Kyodo News report said this comes with the spike in Covid-19 cases and it well exceeded the previous high of 185 in September.
The day care centres are mostly used by working couples and their closure poses a problem to them.
The shutdowns have been seen in 27 of the country’s 47 prefectures, at a time when the Japanese government is set to expand its quasi-state of emergency antivirus restrictions to over 30 prefectures.
Some municipalities such as Nagoya have also started to ask parents not to bring their children until the current wave of the pandemic subsides.
Since the health ministry began tracking infections among children and staff at day care facilities in March 2020, a total of 11,397 children and 7,644 facility employees tested positive for Covid-19 as of Thursday.
The ministry said 63 facilities which looked after elementary school students after school hours, were also temporarily shut as of Thursday due to the pandemic.
Source: New Straits Times
