Japan set to construct bug testing units near airports

TOKYO: Japan plans to set up new coronavirus testing centres outside three major airports in Tokyo and Osaka, as well as in central parts of the cities, as the country prepares to relax its travel restrictions, a government official said yesterday.

The facilities mainly targeting people entering Japan from abroad are to be built near the airports, Tokyo’s Haneda, Narita near the capital and Kansai in Osaka Prefecture, as early as this summer, the official said.

Japan has yet to decide whether to include those who plan on travelling outside the country.

Airport quarantine stations currently conduct about 1,000 polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests per day, with results confirmed in about one or two days.

The planned construction of the facilities will increase the number of daily PCR tests to over 4,000, with health authorities also hoping to reduce virus testing times to a few hours by using new methods.

The envisioned testing centres in central parts of the two major cities are expected to target travellers leaving for foreign countries, and the government is considering issuing certificates for those who test negative.

Since February, Japan has been strengthening travel restrictions for inbound visitors, as part of its border control measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

On Monday, another 18 countries including Algeria, Cuba and Iraq were added to Japan’s entry ban list, raising the total number of countries and regions subject to the measure to 129.

Only 1,700 foreign travelers are estimated to have arrived in Japan in May, the fewest for any month on record and a 99.9% drop from a year earlier, according to government data.

However, Japan is currently in talks with several countries to mutually ease travel restrictions for businesspeople on condition they submit negative test results and an itinerary on where they plan to go during their stay.

Those countries include Australia and Thailand. Japan may also begin talks with Taiwan and Brunei as early as this month, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

Travel from Japan to Vietnam partially resumed late last month with charter flights carrying mainly businesspeople.