Osaka Prefecture in western Japan plans to check the body temperatures of shinkansen bullet train passengers arriving from the Tokyo metropolitan area for about three weeks starting on Monday.
Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi announced the decision on Friday, one day after the government said that the state of emergency for Tokyo and three nearby prefectures will be ended on Sunday.
Yoshimura says bullet train passengers will have their temperatures monitored at Shin-Osaka Station to help prevent a resurgence of the coronavirus caused by travel between Osaka and the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Prefectural officials will use thermographs set up at three locations in the station. People with temperatures of 37-point-5 degrees Celsius or higher will be asked to visit medical institutions.
Yoshimura says the officials will monitor body temperatures from March 22 to April 9, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.
He says there will be a lot of people traveling around the start of the new fiscal year on April 1, so he wants to take extra precautions to prevent the virus from spreading when the state of emergency is lifted.
