Japan set to ease travel from NZ
Japan is preparing to lower the travel warning for New Zealand and exempt many business travellers from the 14-day quarantine policy currently imposed on overseas arrivals.
Travel restrictions have been in place to stem the spread of Covid-19 since the pandemic began but the government is looking at relaxing those rules from November 1.
Japan has had travel warnings for 12 countries and regions, including New Zealand, Australia, China and Taiwan. New Zealand is at level three – which urges Japanese nationals to avoid all travel – of the four-tier warning system.
Officials plan to drop that alert to level two, which advises Japanese nationals to avoid non-essential travel.
In another move, Japanese citizens and foreign nationals with residence permits will be eligible for conditional exemptions to return to the country.
A 14-day quarantine policy has proved an obstacle for overseas business travel and limited efforts by politicians to kickstart economic activity.
Under the government’s plans, eligible travellers will be required to submit a detailed plan of their movements in the 14 days following entry into Japan, including accommodation and place of employment, reports the Japan Times.
Arrivals at the airport must take a saliva-based test, which can detect infection and show results within 30 minutes. People who test negative for Covid-19 will not need to self-quarantine on condition they submit activity plans and do not use public transport for two weeks.
A daily limit on the number of people eligible for the exemption is being proposed and will be based on testing capacity at airports and other ports of entry. The government has also currently capped the number of foreign nationals allowed entry to about 1,000 per day.
Japan has already agreed to resume business travel with Singapore and South Korea, under which travellers are exempted from the 14-day quarantine.
One difficulty foreign nationals face upon entry to Japan is they are not allowed to use public transportation including taxis during the self-quarantine period. While some passengers at Haneda Airport in Tokyo have used a free shuttle bus provided by the airport to get to nearby hotels, those seeking to go elsewhere have to arrange someone to pick them up, rent a car or hire a chauffeur-driven car.
Foreign residents returning to Japan must also install on their smartphones a Covid-19 contact-tracing app, a map app and a messaging app to answer daily checks on their health.
