Japan on Thursday eased its coronavirus travel warning for 36 countries and areas, including the United States, Britain, Canada and Hong Kong, meaning it will no longer ask citizens to avoid nonessential trips to the areas.
The Foreign Ministry lowered its travel advisories for those countries, which also include Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, from Level 2 on its four-point scale to Level 1, which advises Japanese nationals traveling to those regions to "stay fully alert."
In addition, advisories for 15 nations and areas were downgraded from Level 3, which warns against all travel, to Level 2. Among them are seven nations in the Middle East and Africa, six in Europe and two in Latin America.
"On the whole, the world is seeing a downward trend in the number of new infection cases and deaths, and the risk of suffering severe symptoms and death has been seen receding," the ministry said in a press release.
A total of 109 nations and regions remained under the Level 2 warning, including 30 in Asia, such as China, South Korea and India, as well as 35 European nations, including Germany, France and Italy. Forty-one countries were left unchanged at Level 3.