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FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a protective mask walks past a large sign with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games mascot Miraitowa amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Tokyo, Japan on 4 June 2020. REUTERS / Kim Kyung-Hoon
TOKYO —Japan aims to allow large numbers of foreign visitors to attend next year’s Tokyo Olympics without mandatory vaccinations or quarantine, provided they present negative COVID-19 test results and download tracking apps, the newspaper reported. Nikkei shopping on Wednesday.
The report, which did not identify the source of the information or detail how many visitors would be allowed, also said Japan would not restrict tourists from using public transportation systems.
Under current restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, travelers must self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival, as well as register for contact tracing apps.
Tokyo organizers were not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.
Organizers of the Games, which were delayed by a year in March due to the pandemic, had sold about 1 million tickets abroad, the newspaper said, compared with 4.5 million in Japan.
Last month, senior International Olympic Committee official John Coates said that the number of athletes participating in the Games will not be reduced and that it is up to the organizers to make them feel safe.
More than 11,000 athletes are expected in Tokyo for the Olympic Games and thousands more will come for subsequent Paralympic Games.
The plan to allow large numbers of overseas visitors would underscore Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s promise to revitalize Japan’s ailing economy by boosting tourism, a pillar of the nation’s economic measures also supported by his predecessor.
Suga has been promoting national travel campaigns despite a surge in new coronavirus infections that is rapidly filling hospital beds.
The increase has hurt Suga’s approval rating, and many say his reluctance to curb domestic travel has contributed to the rise in the number of infections.
Japan has avoided the large number of infections and deaths from the virus in Europe and the United States, but with the arrival of the cold season, the country has recorded a record number of daily cases in recent weeks.
The Nikkei report sparked a strong backlash online, with some saying the government was putting people’s lives at risk.
“I wonder why the government wants to hold the Games in this situation. They must be crazy, ”tweeted a social media user with the username @ nuna-13. “Are they going to kill Japanese citizens?”
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