Japan to ease COVID border controls on arrivals from China from Wed.

Japan will ease its border control measures for travelers from mainland China from Wednesday amid a decline in novel coronavirus cases, giving them the option of entering the country by presenting proof of three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, the top government spokesman said Monday.

Visitors from mainland China are currently required to present proof of a negative coronavirus test taken 72 hours or less before departure.

"We have decided to alter the tentative measures currently in place in light of the infection status at home and abroad, as well as border control steps taken by other Group of Seven nations," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in a news conference, adding the government will continue its sample testing for arrivals from mainland China at airports.

As the legal status of COVID-19 is scheduled to be downgraded to the same category as common infectious diseases, such as seasonal influenza, on May 8, the government will start a new genome surveillance program aimed at detecting new infectious diseases, he also said.

In late December, Japan introduced blanket COVID-19 testing for all arrivals from mainland China amid an explosion in infections in the country after Beijing drastically relaxed its stringent "zero-COVID" policy that had involved lockdowns and quarantines.

In early January, it further tightened border controls for visitors from the region by requiring proof of a negative test.

In March, however, the Japanese government ended the blanket testing for such visitors but started random testing at airports after finding that the number of those testing positive for COVID-19 had dropped.

© Kyodo News