Japan unlikely to ask people to curb activities despite COVID spike

Does that mean I can FINALLY come in ?

Because of course they won't.

Japan unlikely to ask people to curb activities despite COVID spike

Good. No need to.

Yeah, forget about it

unless hospitalizations and deaths surge (which they aren’t) don’t even think about it.

So the government is not going to do something to deal with the widespread infection, but it not going to do something that makes things worse either...

the government is planning to request the country's 47 prefectures set up free COVID-19 testing sites at major stations and airports between Aug 5 and 18 so people who have not undergone a third vaccination, among others, can check their infection status.

Voluntarily? at the moment when people could have to cancel their trips (or become unable to go back home immediately) if they get a positive result?

That doesn't seem to be going to work as planned.

Why individual tourists can't come in then?

Thank you panel of experts!

I'm off with 5 family members to Hokkaido tomorrow and Okinawa next month!

Your parents and sister can come …. No problem….. next false statement….

Why individual tourists can't come in then?

The Japanese government is being cautious, thats why. Looking at how the virus is flaring up in nations with zero restrictions on travel, it is understandable.

My gut feeling is from the second half of 2023, rules may be relaxed and limited foreign tourists may be permitted in.

Highly doubtful the small foreign tour group experiment will be continued now. Sad for tourist businesses in Japan, but it is what it is.

On a serious note, is there really a need to do so? Unless they want to channel a China-style ZERO Covid agenda, life has moved on to majority of the civilized world... Covid is just another flu!

Open the borders, let’s get this place cooking, frothing, we’re ready to go accept all weebs !!!

Your parents and sister can come …. No problem….. next false statement….

Excuse me @Steven McCarthy, but they can't come in and do what they want. You know that's what I'm talking about.

They would have to be part of a tour. Most people don't want to be part of a tour

@fighto!

The government is being cautious? Give me a break. They're being rubbish xenophobes.

No need to let tourists back in yet-gotta make sure that it’s very safe first!

Japan unlikely to ask people to curb activities despite COVID spike

Because Japan is not like the lockdowner China, which is good and right.

Your family absolutely can apply for a visa …. And come visit restriction free …. Not a guided tour…..

There’s a reasonable in-between course of action between “throw up ones hands and scream’ I give up!’” And China’s idiotic zero COVID approach.

its called boosting, masking and being a responsible member of an interconnected society.

And the funny thing is, the people like me that actually live here all seem to get it.

It’s not rocket science.

Follow the advice of public health professionals and not the screed your cousin from wherever sent you on FB.

So lift the stupid pcr test before departure requirement.

Only took two years for the sensible reaction; you can't fight a virus at a government level. Wash your hands and don't do gain of function research at a low quality Chinese lab. Easy.

Your family absolutely can apply for a visa …. And come visit restriction free …. Not a guided tour…..

Is that true? Well you learn something new every day

@ John Noun … here you go ! Step by step and for family members it’s very straight forward and easy !

https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/process/short.html

And the funny thing is, the people like me that actually live here all seem to get it.

I might add that you're simply assuming you're correct because people who think like you are doing the same thing. An obvious fallacy.

I think the Japanese government are doing the right thing here. Not because I share some collective belief with them, but because there is no evidence that telling people to curb their social activities would halt the spread in any meaningful way. We saw the places that locked down heavily have experienced surges after opening up, indicating that lockdowns just delayed the inevitable while causing enormous collateral damage.

Mask up and boost away if it makes you feel better, but it won't do diddly to stop the virus from spreading.

Tuned into Kishida's conference late, but of course he was asked about border policies. At least he said he doesn't plan to strengthen them as of now..

@steven

Thank you very much.

Very helpful:)

I would have thought updated vaccines would be available by now.

Of course. Because the only threat is the dangerous gaijin and the body trembling thought of these gaijins entering Japan and travelling around the country freely.

....according to the illustration, we can do one or the other, but not both at once.....

The Japanese government is being cautious, thats why. Looking at how the virus is flaring up in nations with zero restrictions on travel, it is understandable.

Where is the actual study, or conclusive evidence that points to travel being a contributor to Covid-19 spread? The virus is flaring up here, in Japan, a nation with total restrictions on travel. The US and UK removed their pre-departure PCR testing and mask requirements and there has not been a proportional increase in those countries.

My gut feeling is from the second half of 2023, rules may be relaxed and limited foreign tourists may be permitted in.

Highly doubtful the small foreign tour group experiment will be continued now. Sad for tourist businesses in Japan, but it is what it is.

Good. Japan's tourism industry deserves to collapse if they are not going to hold their elected officials accountable. I am so sick and tired of listening to this over and over again. Japanese people are NOT helpless. These travel restrictions are an excuse to pacify those who have been lead to believe in a Nippon Kaigi fantasy philosophy. Not stop the virus. This has been proven continually over and over again for three years.

Governor Koike seems to have done nothing since the Olympics. Absent from virtually all media.

Not even a trendy English meme to support her citizens?

LMFAO tourist can visit Japan but Japanese citizens can travel to other countries. Anyways, its business as usual the ONLY REASON Japan unlikely to ask people to curb activities despite the COVID spike is YEN!!!! MONEY!!! Inflation is at its highest and any further restriction on people will make them go further into a savings mode. The government knows that if the people don't go out and enjoy and by not spend money will only make things worse for the Japanese economy. In other words they are leaving things up to the people to care for their own health by wearing mask but they also want their wealth those tax dollars!!!

All of the arguments for the border restrictions are nonsense - the first one is that they want to keep variants out - well, how many variants have the border restrictions actually kept out? None. Most of the variants had already arrived here before anyone even knew they existed. The second one - foreigners can't be trusted to "follow the rules" - just how many tourists would be coming here? At any one time maybe a couple of hundred thousand? Probably a lot less than that considering most tourists were Chinese and they won't be coming any time soon. The population of Japan is over 120 million, what difference is a couple of hundred thousand going to make. And as if those tourists are going to come here, be asked to wear masks, see everyone here wearing masks and then say "Actually, I'm not going to wear a mask!". Seriously, how many are going to do that? It's just ridiculous!

It's too late in the game now. People have more or less accepted living with Covid as their new normal and restricting activities or gods forbid, declaring anther SoE is just going to fall on deaf ears while further damaging the economy. People are over it and trying to get back to doing things as normal as they possibly can. If J-gov decides to impose restrictions then joke's on them.

There's more covid cases here now than on the government's blue listed nations. It makes zero sense to keep restricting people's lives for something so mild for vaccinated people. Can we get on with our lives please?

@fuzzy

Thank you, mate. Unfortunately, it seems to be the correct information at present, and that's actually the same link that my sister was referring to.

I dint care is they advise people to stop going out, I’m going out and doing what I like since I have the whole time, whilst taking sensible precautions of course

This Covid Lark is annoying, at least businesses are allowed to carry on now and not close early. Life should be the same as before, Covid ain’t going away and silly restrictions don’t stop it anyway, and that’s a a fact.

It's great they are not planning restrictions but unless they shorten the quarantine period the economy is going to grind to a halt anyway.

@John Noun,

Although I generally strongly disagree with Steven Mccarthy on most things regarding the coronavirus, I think he is right that if you are living here, then close family members can now visit (although the link he sent was obviously wrong). See this link instead.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page22e_000921.html - see section 2 "Entry of foreign nationals with other special exceptional circumstances" - "A foreign national who is to acquire the status of residence of “Temporary Visitor” for the purpose of visiting a relative / an acquaintance (in a case of visiting an acquaintance, only a foreign national who have a relationship to him/her equivalent to a relative, or who is recognized his/her necessity to visit Japan.) ."

I believe you need to prepare a letter of invitation as well as a "pledge" and your relative will need to apply for a visa at the Japanese embassy in their country.

I would recommend that your family member contact the Japanese embassy in their country to check the details and eligibility as the rules are still somewhat unclear.

Well, I've not had even my first, and I'm still alive and kicking - Survival of the Fittest ? I caught the virus, experienced a high temperature, for one night, then moderate the next day and gone the day after.

Now, I am not suggesting for one bit, that people should avoid getting inoculated - though I believe we have a Human Right to choose whether or not to do so, whilst having proper information to hand in order to make that decision.

I also think, those big Pharmaceutical Companies must surely be rubbing their hands in Glee right now.

As for the Governments decision - (or lack of), I doubt there's not much that they can do - most other Countries barring China are learning to "live with it", or otherwise face their Economies collapsing - like China. On the plus side, new business models have sprung up, and Disaster Recovery plans rethought, a certain % of the Employed population can now equally work from home - so in the case of the UK, if there's a Rail strike - the impact is going to be less now, that it would have been, had WFH plans not been acted upon over the past 2 years.

In the case of Japan, the Government has asked Hospitals to be prepared for an influx of patients - so we will just have to see, perhaps watch for news stories about Ambulance wait times before being accepted into a nearby hospital. It may happen like before, or maybe Hospitals have figured out a way to manage sudden influxes of patients ? Time will tell. In the meantime, Companies should allow any concerned Employees to work from home, particularly if in the case of a sudden rise of infections, those employees at their place of office become infected - they will then be able to switch around employees. The Rotation system that some Companies used, was somewhat bad, since when teams ended up being infected, they had no one in the Office... they should start thinking in Military terms - having Reservist Teams, waiting to be deployed as when necessary.

"To curb further spread of the virus through travel and socializing during the upcoming summer vacation period, the government is planning to request the country's 47 prefectures set up free COVID-19 testing sites at major stations and airports"

Two years late to the party.

Current COVID policies are certainly a charade. The US is still regarded as a blue category country yet new cases are near an all-time high. Anyway, it works for me as I will be flying into Haneda in a few weeks. See you on the other side of the Pacific.

Can check their infection status

Because they probably have no symptoms and feel totally normal .

@John Noun: Will back Steven up on that, a few colleagues have had family members over in the last two months. Paperwork.... An invitation from you and a pledge from you that they'll 'behave' - but no restrictions once here.