KYODO NEWS



 

Japan will lift re-entry restrictions on foreign residents next month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday, changing an aspect of the government's coronavirus response that has received strong criticism from within the expatriate community.

Returning foreign residents will be required to take polymerase chain reaction tests that return negative results when entering Japan, and be asked to self-isolate for two weeks to monitor their health, according to government officials.

Japan currently denies entry to all foreign nationals who have recently been to one of 146 countries and regions. Thirteen more -- Bhutan, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Ethiopia, Gambia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Nigeria, Malawi, South Sudan, Rwanda and Lesotho -- will be added to the list on Sunday, the government said.