[ad_1]
TOKYO, Dec. 27 (AP) – Japan will tighten border controls against COVID-19, requiring all visitors from China to be tested starting Friday, as a temporary measure in response to a surge in infections there, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Tuesday. emergency procedures.
A few days ago, the World Health Organization said it was very concerned about an increase in reports of severe cases across China after the country largely abandoned its “zero COVID” policy.
Quantitative antigen testing, already performed on entrants suspected of having COVID-19, will become mandatory for all arrivals from mainland China. Those who test positive will be quarantined at designated facilities for seven days, and their samples will be used for genomic analysis.
The measures, which started on Friday, come as Japan enters a New Year holiday marked by parties and travel, when infections are expected to rise.
Last week, India also required COVID-19 testing for travelers arriving from China, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand, while requiring quarantine for those who have symptoms or test positive. India has also started random testing of 2% of international passengers arriving at airports.
Kishida said China lacked information and transparency about infections, making it difficult to assess and develop safety measures. He said there was a huge discrepancy in information between central and local authorities, government and private organisations.
“Japan is getting more and more concerned,” Kishida said. “We decided to take temporary special measures to deal with the situation.”
Despite the strain on medical resources and business disruptions caused by the widespread outbreak, China said on Monday that starting Jan. 8, travelers arriving from abroad would no longer need to be quarantined, but those who tested negative within 48 hours of departure and still required Wear a mask on board.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday that while cooperating with the international community, China has been “improving our COVID response measures according to the changing situation”.
In a nuanced critique of Japan and India’s tightening border measures, Wang said: “China believes that pandemic measures should be scientific and appropriate and should not affect normal personnel exchanges.”
Kishida said Japan’s new measures were aimed at “preventing a rapid increase in infections in the country” rather than stemming the global movement of people. He added that Japan would take flexible actions while monitoring developments in China, including halting a planned increase in flights between Japan and China “for safety’s sake”.
Government officials said direct flights between the two countries were temporarily limited to Japan’s four main airports.
“This measure will not affect Japan’s policy of continuing our cautious and steady transition to a COVID-infected lifestyle while closely monitoring infections at home,” Kishida said.
Japan earlier this year stopped requiring COVID-19 testing for arrivals with at least three shots – part of a cautious easing of measures after the country all but closed its borders to foreign tourists for about two years. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
[ad_2]
Source link