Coronavirus: Japan to ease Covid border controls in June allowing for more overseas arrivals
- Those arriving from about 80 per cent of countries and regions will no longer be required to take virus tests on arrival or undergo quarantine
- Japan effectively closed its doors to non-resident foreign nationals to prevent a surge in infections driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant
Japan will relax its Covid border restrictions from June 1, including by doubling its daily cap on the number of international arrivals allowed to 20,000, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Friday.
The government will also ease Covid-19 testing and quarantine rules for people arriving in Japan, dividing countries and regions into three groups according to the infection situation.
Travellers from the lowest-risk “blue” group will be exempt from testing upon arrival in Japan and quarantining at home, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference. They will still need to show a pre-departure negative test result.
Around 80 per cent of entrants are likely to be from countries and regions that fall into that group, Matsuno said, adding that the breakdowns will be announced next week.
People arriving from countries and regions placed in the highest-risk “red” group will be asked to take Covid-19 tests when they enter Japan and stay for three days at quarantine facilities.
Those in the remaining “yellow” group need to be tested for Covid-19 upon arrival and stay for three days at home or quarantine facilities, according to the government. But this does not apply to people who have received their third vaccine dose.
“We believe [the review] will make the entry of visitors smooth,” he said.