While there were some cancellations and postponements due to students worried about a potential outbreak of SARS in Japan, Yamasa's enrollments have been relatively unaffected, perhaps in part due to the full refund policy. Most of our students are also well aware that Japan is physically isolated from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China, and we would like to assure everyone that it is safe to travel to Okazaki and to study at Yamasa.

Previous update: 2003/06/04 Tuesday 4:00pm

Reading the news the spread of SARS appears to be increasingly under control, in the most recent update by the WHO a handful of new cases were reported in Germany, USA, Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Now for some good news.

The early bird discount has been changed due to some spare capacity due to the SARS policy - studying at Yamasa has never been cheaper. Also, airline ticket prices for the peak summer period are significantly less than at the equivalent travel periods last year. The full refund policy remains in place so if you see a bargain and wish to make a booking, but want to keep your options open have a quick browse/read. Please note however that while Japan is unaffected by SARS, we strongly advise against travelling to Japan via transits through airports in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan or for visiting those countries for visa renewals. Compared to most countries in the world, quarantine and immigration checks at Japanese airports have always been unusually thorough, but if you are flying in from certain Asian airports or on flights originating from Toronto, expect a few more delays and a lot more questions (on health instead of guns/drugs etc) than usual. If you haven't booked your flight yet, a direct flight into Nagoya is probably the best way to arrive. For more information or clarifications, please contact us.

Previous update: 2003/05/28 Wednesday 11:00am

Since the previous update, Hong Kong, Guangdong and some other areas of China have had restrictions lifted. This means that at present the only applicants affected by the changes to Yamasa's Admissions Policy are residents and visitors to Taiwan and certain parts of China. We are expecting the Advisory for Taiwan to be lifted soon, in the meantime a range of compensation options are in place. Please click here for details of the changes to the Admissions Policy and associated compensations.

Previous update: 2003/05/19 Monday 4:30pm

Since the last update, there has been another false alarm. A Taiwanese doctor visited Osaka and the Kansai area (about 300 kilometers from here), and developed symptoms diagnosed as SARS after returning to Taiwan. It appears that the doctor became infected in Taiwan, left for a trip to Osaka prior to developing symptoms, and completed a bus tour unaware that he was carrying the pathogen (in a less-infectious stage of the virus). Specialists believe there is little possibility that any secondary infections took place, however as a precautionary measure, the Japanese medical authorities have been isolating and testing all people who had contact with the doctor during the visit. All of the tests so far have been negative.

Previous update: 2003/05/13 Tuesday 2:40pm

As per the last update, there has still been no local transmission of SARS anywhere in Japan, nor any suspected / possible cases of SARS amongst travellers and returnees. This file contains updates on the situation regarding Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). A number of students from Hong Kong and Singapore have written to Admissions worrying about potential quarantine. The Japanese government is not quarantining new arrivals from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan or from the PRC. On arrival at the airport you may be questioned about recent health (instead of the usual questions about guns and drugs), but there is no isolation period or other restriction. As per the last update, on May 2nd Japan was deleted from the WHO site after all 5 reported cases turned out to be false alarms.

Previous update: 2003/05/09 Friday 2:40pm

This file contains updates on the situation regarding Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). There has still been no local transmission of SARS in Japan, and there are currently no suspected / possible cases of SARS either amongst travellers and returnees. All 5 "possible" cases reported to WHO from April 11th have subsequently been confirmed as false alarms - all of which involved travellers returning from mainland Asia. On May 2nd Japan was deleted from the WHO site.

Previous update: 2003/04/29 Tuesday 2:35pm

We would like to assure everyone that it is safe to travel to Okazaki and to study at Yamasa. This file contains updates on the situation regarding Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). There is no local transmission. A total of 5 "possibles" have been reported to the WHO since April 11th, however 3 of these turned out to be false alarms (deleted from the WHO site April 22nd). We are still waiting for information regarding the remaining 2 cases (who are quarantined and isolated), though as time passes it appears these may also be false alarms too. There will be another update soon on these 2 cases once 20 consecutive days (the duration of two incubation periods) have passed since their quarantine.

If you need any further information on the subject don't hesitate to contact Admissions for more information.

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