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EU to reopen borders to 14 nations, including Japan but not to U.S. tourists

32 Comments
By LORNE COOK

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32 Comments
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I hope Japan keep its borders closed. At least until a vaccine or treatment is found.

The Virus in Japan is so far under control, but to open the borders will make the things worse.

-6 ( +16 / -22 )

I wasn't aware the EU had borders.

-19 ( +7 / -26 )

Rwanda ? What is that about ?

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

I wasn't aware the EU had borders.

How could it not have borders? What does this even mean?

8 ( +16 / -8 )

The Chinese will make up the slack...

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Yep, the current US president has turned our country into a 3rd world "sh$& h$#$!" like he said of African countries!

The president likes to project his own actions!

10 ( +16 / -6 )

Here in France (and in most of EU), we are just "breathing again" after a 2 months-long lockdown when we couldn't go outside a 1km radius from our home. Cafés, bars, restaurants, movie theaters were all closed, most social life was shut down. It was a tough, depressing time for many people..

I can understand that people from banned countries may be upset ; i'm also aware that the economic loss is huge as written in the article, but please consider our situation : nobody want to go back to such a lockdown, and few are willing to take the risk to let people come in from heavily infected countries.

Having Japanese origins myself, i had to cancel my 2 weeks trip to Japan in May and i don't know when i will be able to go back there again ; so i can feel what it's like when you'r on the banned side.

I just hope an effective testing protocol (or just a vaccine ^^) will be put in place for travelers ; in the meantime, it's just 仕方がない!

7 ( +11 / -4 )

Ruanda?

Requested by Belgium. Ruanda used to be a former colony of Belgium.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Requested by Belgium. Ruanda used to be a former colony of Belgium.

Aaahhh.. ok ok ...

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

I hope Japan keep its borders closed. At least until a vaccine or treatment is found.

The Virus in Japan is so far under control, but to open the borders will make the things worse.

I'm afraid it's going to be some time before a vaccine is found. And we cannot keep borders closed until then. But keeping them closed to countries where the virus is still rising is responsible. And we can still continue with life as long as we wear masks and be careful in public.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

American's will miss Europe too, but i won't fault them for this sort of protection while the virus is uncontrolled in the US. Same to Japan and every other country blocking people from places that have huge COViD cases increasing.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Parisiens would do best in the future by appreciating the tourists than turning their noses up to them.

2 ( +8 / -6 )

Don't need Americans traveling around your country declaring their "right" not to have to wear a mask.

16 ( +21 / -5 )

Don't need Americans traveling around your country declaring their "right" not to have to wear a mask.

I get the sense the majority of these people aren’t the traveling abroad types.

Best thing all round that they stay within their borders.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Well, this process is good. Start with countries that have proven their ability to fight the coronavirus properly. Then continue with middle of the road countries, once they get a handle on things as well. And as for the US, Brazil, India, and Russia, well we shall see. We shall see...

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Where is the reciprocity though? Japan should open to the EU too. Permanent residents should be let in first, of course. It's unacceptable that Japanese people will be able to travel freely to EU countries but European people who have been living in Japan can't enter. It's unfair.

Also, I see very few people talking about work visa holders who were left out of Japan before entering and now are stuck outside without a job and income (they have a job in Japan, they just can't cross the border to start it). They also need to enter soon!

We can't keep the world closed until we have a vaccine, it's impossible. People need to go back to their lives! Tourism, of course, should be prohibited. But there are so many people struggling because of this that are being ignored, and it has to stop.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Freedom of travel is going back to the 19 century. This is has basically bece the dream world of all the ethnic nationalists all around the world.

Border closure being the standard, and just opening borders to your friends without any kind of real oversight on how that works, and having arbitrary ever changing rules.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Well, this is understandable - the surging of the virus in Red States due to Repub Governors acquiescing to Trump to open early have caused this disaster.

But I have a suggestion to our European friends - have all US citizens fill out a questionnaire - questions as follows;

Do you binge-watch Fox News?

Do you hide in your basement clinging to your AR15 in fear that your neighbor will steal your toilet paper?

Is your bedspread pattern the Confederate Flag?

Do you avoid 5G towers because you think they cause COVID?

Have you ever attended a Trump rally?

Is your favorite color orange?

If they answer yes to even one of these questions, ban them. Everyone else let in...

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Time to do the same back, Japan, especially for those who have visas to live here.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

What about US citizens residing in the 14 countries? I'm a US citizen residing in Japan.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

If you are ordinary Japanese, you cannot go to sumo or a soccer match or have a festival in anything like the normal way.

If you are wealthy Japanese, you can now fly to Europe and hang out with people from all over, including the UK which has handled Covid-19 nearly as badly as the USA. The first Covid-19 case in my area was a young woman who went to the UK in March (!!) to study English. Any sensible person would have cancelled. In inaka in only takes one or two cases for schools to close. That's actions of individuals having big consequences for hundreds of others.

If Japan lets Japanese go to Europe but does not let permanent residents back in, I'm afraid that is simple racism. There is no other explanation for it.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

In reality, I do not think Japanese will go to Europe for tourism this summer. Most of them will be scared by the coronavirus.

Ane the Japanese governement、MOFA, is issuing a 渡航中止勧告 for Europe. Warning to stop travel

I am French living here for 20 years. If I just wanna visit my family, I can not come back, but technically, the Japanese tourist can freely travel.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

BTW, a number of EU countries have higher rates of COViD deaths than the USA.

Per capita, however, the U.S. — with 379.27 confirmed deaths per 1

million people — had fewer fatalities from COVID-19 than eight other

nations.

Among those countries with more confirmed deaths per capita: Belgium

(839.72), the United Kingdom (640.99), Italy (574.18), Sweden (522.81)

and France (456.20).

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/06/covid-19-cases-and-deaths-by-the-numbers/

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

BTW, a number of EU countries have higher rates of COViD deaths than the USA.

I think the small error in t he is sentence is tense- they had higher rates of COVID-19 deaths, but have subsequently brought it under control. The USA should see another surge beginning in a week or so.

The risk is how many people are carriers today and it appears that the USA is near the top of that list.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Ah_so:

I think the small error in t he is sentence is tense- they had higher rates of COVID-19 deaths, but have subsequently brought it under control. The USA should see another surge beginning in a week or so.

The data was accurate yesterday. Predicting the future with very little data is something for experts. Fatality rates have been dropping in the US as the health care industry learns simple, but life saving techniques. There certainly are a bunch of 12-30 yr olds ignoring the warnings, especially in the summer heat. I would have at that age until a minor accident taught me just how fragile humans are.

Sorry about the funny quote layout. The setup on this site is often difficult. Hopefully, below is cleaner:

Per capita, however, the U.S. — with 379.27 confirmed deaths per 1 million people — had fewer fatalities from COVID-19 than eight other nations.

Among those countries with more confirmed deaths per capita: Belgium (839.72), the United Kingdom (640.99), Italy (574.18), Sweden (522.81) and France (456.20).

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/06/covid-19-cases-and-deaths-by-the-numbers/

Fresh numbers are here: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/download-todays-data-geographic-distribution-covid-19-cases-worldwide

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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