US Issues Do Not Travel Warning for Japan Ahead of Tokyo Olympics
25 May 2021, 22:35 GMT+10
With less than two months remaining before the opening ceremony, the Tokyo Olympics received another jolt Monday when the U.S. government issued a warning for its citizens not to travel to Japan due to rising rates of new COVID-19 cases.
The State Department issued its highest travel advisory warning, Level 4, citing Japan s slow vaccination rate and the country s own restrictions on travelers from the United States.
A separate warning issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Japan.
COVID-19: HK could soon bin doses
MILLIONS TO EXPIRE: The territory is one of the few places in the world fortunate enough to have secured enough doses to give shots to its entire population
AFP, HONG KONG
Hong Kong might soon need to throw away millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses because they are approaching their expiration date and not enough people have signed up to be vaccinated, an official said yesterday.
Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world fortunate enough to have secured more than enough doses to inoculate its entire population of 7.5 million people.
However, distrust of the government, online misinformation and a lack of urgency in the comparatively virus-free territory have led to entrenched vaccine hesitancy and a dismal inoculation drive.
By Contributor - May 7, 2021
From May 12, most incoming passengers who have been inoculated against Covid-19 will have their self-isolation period cut by a week.
The Hong Kong Island skyline by night. (Photo: Thom Masat/Unsplash)
Top officials in Hong Kong have just revealed details on a plan to cut quarantines for fully vaccinated arrivals from outside Mainland China, Macau, and Taiwan. At a press conference this afternoon, the territory’s Permanent Secretary for Food and Health, Thomas Chan, said the updated rules would take effect from midnight on May 12. Passengers arriving in Hong Kong will have their quarantine adjusted depending on their place of departure, according to which category it fits into under Hong Kong’s risk assessment system.
Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said in a Monday statement that the city-state had agreed with Hong Kong to start an air travel bubble between the two places on May 26.
It will be done “cautiously” with one flight per day in each direction, and capped at 200 passengers per flights, for at least the first two weeks.
Singapore is home to two casino resorts: Resorts World Sentosa, run by Genting Singapore Ltd; and Marina Bay Sands, run by a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Las Vegas Sands’ chairman and chief executive, Robert Goldstein, said last week it was “hard to see Singapore return to pre-pandemic levels this year,” as that market requires international travel to recover. “Not having foreign players, is very hurtful [to the business],” stated Mr Goldstein. He was speaking during the group’s first-quarter earnings call.