Japan to tighten border controls for S. Africa, others on new virus variant - Jiji

FILE PHOTO: Passengers wearing protective face masks, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, walk at the Haneda airport, in Tokyo, Japan June 13, 2021. REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou
FILE PHOTO: Passengers wearing protective face masks, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, walk at the Haneda airport, in Tokyo, Japan June 13, 2021. REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government decided on Friday to tighten border controls for visitors from South Africa and five other African countries after the discovery of a new variant of the coronavirus, the Jiji news service reported.

Britain on Thursday temporarily banned flights from South Africa and some neighboring countries amid concern that a newly identified variant might make vaccines less effective.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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