In an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Japan from today is barring the entry of foreign nationals who have recently travelled to Thailand and six other countries: Cambodia, Sri Lanka, the Seychelles, Saint Lucia, East Timor and Mongolia. That brings to 159 the number of countries and regions under such restrictions by Tokyo.
Foreign nationals who have been to any of those areas within 14 days of arrival will not be allowed to enter Japan, with the exception of permanent residents and their families. Japanese citizens are not subject to the measure.
The government also added Sri Lanka to a list of countries it deems to pose an especially high risk of becoming a gateway for the highly contagious Indian virus variant to enter Japan. Foreign nationals, even those with resident status, are denied entry if they have recently been to India, Pakistan, Nepal, the Maldives and Bangladesh.
Amid a fourth wave of infections, the Japanese government is trying hard to avoid the kind of explosive spread being experienced by other countries. Emergency rules in several prefectures have kept bars, restaurants, karaoke parlours and other places serving alcohol closed, while large commercial facilities can reopen but with shorter hours. Hard-hit Tokyo and Osaka will continue to keep these larger facilities closed.
The number of new daily Covid cases nationwide has been inching down from a peak of 6,288 on May 14, but the 7-day average was still 5,484 on Thursday.
The government has also faced sharp criticism over its sluggish vaccination roll-out, which is extremely low compared with other developed nations. A Reuters estimate puts coverage at just 3.5% of Japan's population of 126 million.
Yet the government has vowed to go ahead with staging the Tokyo Olympics in less than two months despite mounting calls for the event to be cancelled. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga stressed this month that Japan can stage a "safe and secure" Olympics -- even if they are fan-free. The International Olympic Committee has also said the show must go on.
Many people have taken to social media as well as the streets to protest, arguing that Japan cannot welcome tens of thousands of athletes, coaches and officials from around the world when the pandemic is far from over. Its medical system is already stretched almost to breaking point in some areas.
A recent survey by the Asahi Shimbun found that 83% of respondents said they believed the Games should be either cancelled (43%) or postponed a second time (40%). The figure marked a combined 14-point jump from April. A Kyodo News survey found nearly 60% of people believe the Olympics should be cancelled.
The country's top medical organisation has thrown its weight behind calls to cancel the Games. Hospitals in the host city "have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity", said the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association.
A British Medical Journal editorial last month demanded that Olympic plans "must be reconsidered as a matter of urgency". "Holding Tokyo 2021 for domestic political and economic purposes -- ignoring scientific and moral imperatives -- is contradictory to Japan's commitment to global health and human security," it wrote.
Kiyoshi Abe, a sociology professor at Kwansei Gakuin University, expects anti-Olympic sentiment will continue as the organisers push ahead without providing "convincing explanations", such as how it is possible to hold the Games safely and why they should be held at all.
Leading Japanese businessmen are also ringing alarm bells about a surefire super-spreader event. Hiroshi Mikitani, the head of the e-commerce giant Rakuten, told CNN that staging the Olympics would be a "suicide mission".
Masayoshi Son, the SoftBank founder and Japan's richest man, is "afraid" as Tokyo gambles it can safely welcome 90,000 visitors from all over the world. Even Toyota Motor, a top Olympics sponsor, admits it is "concerned" about the level of public anger over the event.
Personally, I believe the Japanese government, the local organisers and the IOC will do their best to ensure the safety of people participating in the Games, but holding such a big sporting event could be extremely difficult.
Opening doors to participants and visitors from places suffering third or fourth waves of infection, pouring into a densely populated city where vaccinations trail Bangladesh, should thus be avoided.
Prevention is always better than cure. And from the viewpoint of sports enthusiasts like me, who could even enjoy the Games at a time like this?