Japan's major airports may open coronavirus testing centers in September

Jul 15, 2020 | News On Japan

Jul 15, 2020 (Japan Times) - Japan may start operating coronavirus testing centers at major airports and in large cities in September as part of efforts to ease restrictions on international travel, government officials said Tuesday.

Japan will initially aim to carry out around 9,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests per day on travelers at the centers at Haneda, Narita and Kansai airports as well as in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas, the officials said.

The government will increase its screening capacity to 13,000 tests per day after bolstering the capabilities of existing quarantine stations, it said.

Authorities will also try to reduce the amount of time it takes to process tests and provide results from days to hours at the new facilities by introducing advanced testing methods, government officials said earlier.

The testing centers servicing inbound arrivals would be able to process 6,000 people daily â€” 1,800 at Haneda in Tokyo, 2,700 at Narita near Tokyo and 1,500 at Osakaâ€™s Kansai.

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