Japan will start easing some Covid curbs

Japan is expected to relax strict border controls in March, countering strong criticism some Japanese nationals, students, and foreign workers are effectively barred from the country.

Japan has strict limits on arrivals into the country.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to announce an increase in permitted daily arrivals from the current 3,500 to 5,000, and slash quarantine from a week to three days.

“We are considering how to ease the border control measures by taking into account scientific evidence that has become available regarding the Omicron strain and the changing infection situations at home and abroad,”  Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, told local media.

This first step to ease border measures won’t apply to tourists, who are still effectively banned.

Business leaders and universities had slammed current protocols as too heavy-handed and a ‘seclusion policy.’

Health experts believe Omicron peaked earlier this month and new infections are consistently falling.

Only about 10% of the population has received a booster jab with Kishida targeting at least one million booster shots a day.

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