Customers have lunch in a restaurant in Hong Kong, on Nov. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

       HONG KONG (Kyodo) -- Hong Kong will add a total of 12 nations including Japan to "high-risk" countries from which all non-residents' entry is banned, in an effort to prevent further spread of cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, local newspapers reported Wednesday.

       The government of Hong Kong, which has reported three cases of the Omicron variant, said on Monday it will designate all countries with confirmed cases of the variant as high-risk nations to be subject to the entry ban.

       Nine countries including Germany, Israel and Australia will be added from Thursday to the list of nations under the ban and Japan, Sweden and Portugal from Friday, according to the reports.

       The government currently prohibits entry of travelers, except Hong Kong residents, from 36 countries which consist of nations with high infections of the existing coronavirus variants, including the Delta variant, and such other countries as South Africa that have reported the new Omicron variant cases.

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