Japan relaxes travel warning for 36 countries, no other countries

TOKYO Kyodo - Japan has relaxed its travel warning for 36 countries and areas, including the United States, Britain, Canada and Hong Kong, over the coronavirus epidemic, no longer asking Japanese citizens to avoid nonessential trips to the areas.

The Foreign Ministry has lowered its travel advisories for those countries, which include Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, from the third-highest Level 2 on its four-point scale to Level 1, which advises Japanese nationals traveling in those regions to stay fully alert. Advisories for other 15 nations and areas were downgraded from Level 3 to Level 2 which warns to avoid all travel. Among them are seven in the Middle East and Africa, six in Europe and two in Latin America.

The ministry said in a press release that the world is seeing a downward trend in the number of new infection cases and deaths.

There were 109 nations and regions under the Level 2 warnings, including 30 in Asia, such as China, South Korea and India, as well as 35 European nations, including Germany, France and Italy. 41 countries were left unchanged at Level 3 at the same time.