Japan to relax Covid-19 travel rules on visitors from China

Japan is considering easing Covid-19 border controls on travellers arriving from China by the end of this month, a government source said on Thursday, with the rate of arrivals testing positive for the virus dropping recently.

Instead of requiring testing of all visitors from China, the government under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to adopt a selective approach to testing arrivals, the source said.

In China, the number of coronavirus cases exploded after Beijing in December last year started drastically relaxing its stringent “zero-Covid” policy that had involved lockdowns and quarantines.