Japan Post has announced a temporary suspension of the acceptance of international mail from 126 countries for EMS and Air Mail, and for all types of mail from 27 countries. The change is due to a significant decline in flights to and from Japan, and various safety measures being put in place to counteract the coronavirus pandemic.

The temporary suspension also extends to Japan Post’s Economy Air (SAL) Service, and to all 86 countries where the service is available to.

The EMS and Air Mail suspension includes countries like Italy, Russia, and Brazil, meanwhile, countries like India, Indonesia, and New Zealand are affected with a broader suspension of all types of mail. However, mail coming from the United States, France and the United Kingdom are unaffected.

According to a report by NHK, the suspension will start from April 2, 2020 at 12 AM, Japan Standard Time. International postal items that have already been received by April 1st from the aforementioned countries will be returned to their point of origin.

Japan Post has not announced when they will resume the acceptance of international mail from the affected countries.

A full list of the countries affected by the suspension can be found here.