Japan will halt new arrivals of non-resident foreign nationals from overseas from Monday following the detection of a new, highly infectious strain of the coronavirus.

The Tokyo government announced the ban on Saturday night in an emergency statement, saying that the ban will take effect from Monday and run through the end of January.

The temporary ban comes amid a spike in COVID-19 infections and following the detection of the first cases of the new variant in Japan.

Tokyo said Japanese citizens and foreign residents will be allowed to enter but must show proof of a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before departing for Japan and must quarantine for two weeks after arrival.

However, Japan said it will continue to allow the entry of businesspeople from eleven countries including South Korea under an already agreed program.