Coronavirus: Australia to allow overseas travellers with rapid antigen test; global protests against Japan’s entry ban
- The test must be undertaken by or under the supervision of a medical practitioner at airports
- Foreign students and businesspeople barred from entering Japan demonstrated outside Tokyo’s embassies in countries including Poland and Malaysia
A RAT must be undertaken by or under the supervision of a medical practitioner that includes pharmacists or trained personnel at an authorised airport testing station, the Ministry of Health said on its website on Saturday in Sydney. The change is effective from 1am Sunday.
Until now any incoming traveller needed to provide a negative PCR test within three days of departure, creating the risk a person may get infected after the test and before embarking.
In addition, the global spread of Omicron has dramatically increased demand for PCR testing which has impacted access for those wanting pre-departure certification.
“This change will make it easier for Australians to return home,” Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a televised news conference. “It recognises the global reality of a more infectious but less severe strain and the challenge that it has created internationally in terms of access to PCR tests.”
A negative PCR test result will continue to be accepted, the ministry said.