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THE JAPANESE government has required all arrivals from mainland China to have a COVID-19 test upon entering Japan, since Friday (12/30), 2022. This was stated by Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida at a time when China had just announced that it would end its quarantine requirements starting January 8, 2023 after three years of strict pandemic control.
Fumio Kishida said this step was taken as an emergency measure against the rapid spike in cases of COVID-19 infection in China. Concerns have been growing in Japan because it is difficult to understand the situation in detail in China,” Fumio Kishida said, citing Kyodo News recently.
However, he added, Japan would use a flexible approach so that caution against arrivals from China does not stop the flow of international migrants. With this implementation, Japan requires arrivals from mainland China and those who have been in Japan within seven days of arrival to carry out an arrival test.
If the migrant tests positive for COVID-19, they will be quarantined for seven days at the designated facility. Meanwhile, those who are asymptomatic will only be quarantined for five days.
In order to ensure that the testing takes place thoroughly, the Japanese government will also limit the departure and arrival of direct flights connecting Japan with mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau to four airports, namely Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Chubu.
In addition to these four main airports, the Japanese government has also requested that Cathay Pacific Airlines Ltd., Hong Kong Airlines Ltd., and Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd. suspended flights connecting Hong Kong with Sapporo, Fukuoka and Naha starting last Friday.
For information, Japan only fully reopened its borders to foreign arrivals in October 2022, after more than two years of imposing COVID-19 restrictions that banned almost all foreign arrivals. [sources/photo special]
