TOKYO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida mentioned Wednesday that the every day cap on arrivals to the nation might be raised from 20,000 to 50,000 on Sept. 7.
Kishida informed a press convention that vacationers coming to Japan will not should be on package deal excursions with tour guides, because the nation additional eases its border controls, regardless of the nation being within the grip of a seventh wave of COVID-19 infections.
“We have seen international exchanges gaining traction in various parts of the world. We are raising the daily cap on new arrivals to 50,000 from Sept. 7 to join the trend and make sure the benefits of the weak yen are felt,” Kishida mentioned.
The Japanese authorities has been steadily easing its strict border controls, which for a very long time had been probably the most inflexible among the many Group of Seven (G7) main developed nations.
The authorities’s ultra-strict border controls had drawn staunch criticism from the tourism sector, abroad academic establishments and enterprise lobbies, amongst others, and Japan has been trying to convey its entrance protocols in step with different main economies.
The newest easing of Japan’s COVID-19 border controls follows the federal government saying on Aug. 24 that vacationers coming to Japan might be exempt from taking COVID-19 checks earlier than departure if they’ve acquired three vaccination pictures.
The eased virus testing necessities may even come into impact on Sept. 7, the federal government mentioned.
Kishida additionally mentioned the rollout of an Omicron variant-specific vaccine might be introduced ahead from October, with authorities sources saying inoculations may start in late September.
The nation, nevertheless, remains to be grappling with a seventh wave of COVID-19 infections and report circumstances, because the extremely transmissible BA.5 Omicron subvariant of the virus continues to run rampant nationwide.
Despite the excessive an infection price, the federal government has not declared a COVID-19 state of emergency and has not instituted any anti-virus restrictions as was the case when infections had beforehand surged.
Kishida himself examined optimistic for COVID-19 on Aug. 21 and since then had been working from his official residence and attending conferences on-line.
Having recovered from the virus, the Japanese chief resumed his official duties in individual on Wednesday.