As soon as the pandemic hit, people were crushed by a lot of obstacles aside from the viral disease itself. While some were affected by employment issues, others were stuck in a foreign country. For more than two years, the whole world suffered at the hands of this deadly virus. Once we got a little hold over the situation and the world started coming back to normal, a lot of countries gradually lifted their COVID-19 border control measures.
In the beginning of April, Japan announced that they would be removing their border controls on May 8. However, in light of the Golden Week holidays in the country, they decided to prepone the plan and lift the COVID-19 border control measures on April 29, just in time for the holidays.
What Will Japan’s Lifting of COVID-19 Border Control Measures Imply?
Since the country expected a major influx of travellers during the holiday week, the change in plans to drop the control measure made sense. Earlier, every visitor in the country necessarily had to present a vaccine certificate proving that they had taken at least three shots of the vaccine. They could also submit a test report with negative results, taken 72 hours or less before departure.
The update on COVID-19 border control measures being lifted was stated by the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Japanese Government, Hirokazu Matsuno. In a conference, he revealed that the certifications will no longer be required from Saturday onward.
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Measures For Travellers From China Will Also Be Dropped
Japan also had special measures concerning travellers coming from China. The passengers on a direct flight from China were subjected to random testing upon arrival. These measures were put in place when there was a significant surge in COVID-19 cases in China. Along with other measures, these China-specific measures will also be dropped.
Once Japan drops COVID-19 border control measures, it will imply that the status of COVID-19 will be the same as that of seasonal influenza. As per the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Mr Matsuno, the decision to lift the measures was made to ease travel for all those visiting the country for the Golden Week holidays.
Looks like it’s time to book a ticket to Japan and experience fuss-free travel!
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