TOKYO - The authorities in Japan have confirmed that the government was exploring the option to introduce mandatory screening for Tuberculosis for inbound travelers from six countries.
In this regard, Health Minister, Keizo Takemi, said they may implement tuberculosis screening for travelers coming from China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, and Vietnam for those who plan to stay for three months or longer.
The minister also confirmed that the many new TB cases in Japan came from these countries; as per the plan, the flyers will be asked to be tested at Japanese government-designated medical institutions before they travel and in case of positive cases, Japan will not issue visas to those individuals.
“We are making preparations for implementation as soon as possible,” Takemi said without giving any timeline.
Japan is seeing an influx of visitors from China. Japan’s National Tourism Organization says of the roughly 19.8 million visitors to the country in the first 10 months of the year, some 320,000 tourists came from mainland China, and roughly 150,000 flew in from Hong Kong.
As far as the severity of the infection is concerned, mainland China has a rate of 52 TB cases per 100,000 people, according to World Health Organization data while Hong Konog's Centre for Health reported 50.13 cases per 100,000 people in 2021.
The World Health Organization (WHO) cautions that TB is the largest infectious killer after Covid-19, killing 1.3 million people last year.
Though countries across the globe have largely lifted social distancing protocols, the imposition of TB screening by Japan confirms that fresh travel bans might be on the card as far as Japan is concerned, a situation which might explode in days to come bringing toturism to its knees once again.
Pakistani rupee advanced its winning momentum against US dollar, and other currencies in the open market amid strong economic cues.
On Saturday, the US dollar was being quoted at 285.15 for buying and 287.95 for selling.
Euro moves down to 309.9 for buying and 310.5 for selling. British Pound rate stands at 359.4 for buying, and 360.05 for selling.
UAE Dirham AED also moved down to 77.45 whereas the Saudi Riyal drops to 75.82.
Currency | Symbol | Buying | Selling |
US Dollar | USD | 285.15 | 287.95 |
Euro | EUR | 309.9 | 310.5 |
UK Pound Sterling | GBP | 359.4 | 360.05 |
U.A.E Dirham | AED | 77.45 | 77.6 |
Saudi Riyal | SAR | 75.82 | 75.97 |
Australian Dollar | AUD | 187.72 | 188.22 |
Bahrain Dinar | BHD | 759.94 | 767.94 |
Canadian Dollar | CAD | 209.99 | 210.49 |
China Yuan | CNY | 39.78 | 39.88 |
Danish Krone | DKK | 41.95 | 42.05 |
Hong Kong Dollar | HKD | 36.38 | 36.48 |
Indian Rupee | INR | 3.39 | 3.5 |
Japanese Yen | JPY | 1.49 | 1.56 |
Kuwaiti Dinar | KWD | 926.39 | 935.39 |
Malaysian Ringgit | MYR | 60.38 | 60.98 |
New Zealand Dollar | NZD | 173.44 | 175.44 |
Norwegians Krone | NOK | 26.25 | 26.55 |
Omani Riyal | OMR | 742.16 | 750.18 |
Qatari Riyal | QAR | 78.5 | 79.2 |
Singapore Dollar | SGD | 212.45 | 212.95 |
Swedish Korona | SEK | 27.09 | 27.19 |
Swiss Franc | CHF | 325.38 | 325.88 |
Thai Bhat | THB | 8.05 | 8.09 |
The price of gold fell by thousands of rupees as precious metal lost shine despite an upward trend in the international market.
On Saturday, the price of a single tola of 24-karat gold stands at Rs217,300 and 10 grams of 24k gold costs Rs186,300.
Meanwhile, single tola of 22 Karat gold costs Rs199,190, 21 karat rate costs Rs190,138 and 18k gold rate is Rs162,975.
Globally, gold prices hover at around $2072, gaining $32 on Saturday.
City | Gold | Silver |
Lahore | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Karachi | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Islamabad | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Peshawar | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Quetta | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Sialkot | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Attock | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Gujranwala | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Jehlum | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Multan | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Bahawalpur | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Gujrat | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Nawabshah | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Chakwal | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Hyderabad | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Nowshehra | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Sargodha | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Faisalabad | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
Mirpur | PKR 217,300 | PKR 2,705 |
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