Japan's government will no longer require people vaccinated against covid-19 who intend to enter the country to have a negative PCR test certificate, as part of several border measures planned soon, local media reported.

Japan, which still maintains strong restrictions on foreign tourism, currently requires all travelers arriving in the archipelago to present on arrival a negative test performed within 72 hours prior to departure in the country of departure.

According to the Nikkei newspaper quoted by Lusa, the requirement will be removed in the coming weeks.

"We are studying the direction we have to take with regard to the border measures that should be implemented in the near future," Tokyo executive spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said in the meantime.

Japan maintains the most restrictive border measures among the G7 countries (group of the world's most industrialized countries), limiting entries to 20,000 people per day, requiring the presentation of a negative PCR certificate, and keeping most bilateral agreements on the issuance of visas suspended.

The measures make business travel and tourist travel more difficult, especially for foreign visitors not residing in Japan.

In this case, the visa can be requested for tourism purposes through travel agencies authorized by the government, but with a limitation on the groups of travelers, who must be accompanied by an authorized guide.

Matsuno, who gave no further details on the possible revision of the measures, pointed out that Japan will make changes depending on the evolution of infections in other countries, trying to find a "balance" between the number of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks and socio-economic activities.

Local newspapers are reporting on Tuesday that the border restrictions are being relaxed, and that an official announcement may be made later this week, so that the measures can be effectively applied in the coming weeks.

The information comes a day after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made statements about the situation remotely, as he is in isolation for testing positive over the weekend.

Japan is, as of late July, the country with the highest number of new cases of Covid-19 each week, according to data from the World Health Organization.