Japan's government is considering allowing hotels to refuse entry to guests who do not wear masks and follow other measures to control infection during an outbreak, Fuji News Network said on Wednesday.
The government will submit a bill at an extraordinary session of parliament next month that would revise the law governing hotels and inns, allowing them more power to enforce infection measures, the network said.
The move would come at a time when Japan is expected to further ease its COVID-19 border controls, waiving visa requirements for certain tourists and removing a limit on daily arrivals. read more
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is scheduled to debate border easing measures on Thursday.
Japanese Prime Minister, who departed on Tuesday for the United Nations General Assembly Meeting, may announce the border easing during a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
Currently, the wearing of masks is not compulsory in Japan but is strongly recommended indoors and on public transport.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday the US Navy would immediately start blockading the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after marathon talks with Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.
At least 200 people are feared dead after Nigerian military jets struck a village market while pursuing rebels in the northeast of the country on Saturday night, a councillor for the area and residents said on Sunday.
Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Sunday of breaching the 32-hour ceasefire in their four-year war, reporting more than a thousand drone and shelling attacks just hours after the truce began on Saturday to mark Orthodox Easter.
At least 30 people were killed on Saturday in a stampede at the Laferriere Citadel in the northern countryside of Haiti, authorities said, warning that the death toll could rise.
A cyclone battered New Zealand's North Island on Sunday, cutting power to thousands of residents and forcing hundreds to evacuate, as officials warned conditions would worsen through the day.