Mar 03 (Japan Times) - Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Thursday that he will raise the daily cap on arrivals from overseas to 7,000 starting March 14 and extend quasi-emergencies in 18 out of the 31 prefectures where the measure is currently in effect.
The remaining prefectures will see their quasi-emergencies expire Sunday as scheduled.
The increase in the cap, which was just raised to 5,000 from 3,500 on Tuesday, follows criticism from businesses and universities that the current level is insufficient given there are an estimated 400,000 foreign nationals waiting to come to Japan.
In addition, infectious disease experts have pointed out that there is no point in keeping the daily cap on arrivals, which also includes returning Japanese nationals and foreign residents, since the omicron variant has already spread in Japan. ...continue reading
Source: TBS NEWS