Japan tests all China arrivals for Covid amid surging cases

Those who test positive will be quarantined for up to seven days at designated facilities and their samples will be used for genome analysis

People wearing face masks flock to a shopping street famous for a year-end shopping before New Year holidays in Tokyo, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. Japan on Friday started requiring Covid-19 tests for all passengers arriving from China (Hiro Komae/AP/PA)

Japan started requiring Covid-19 tests for all passengers arriving from China on Friday as an emergency measure against surging infections there and as Japan faces rising case numbers and deaths at home.

Japan reported a record 420 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, one day after reaching an earlier single-day record of 415 deaths, according to the Health Ministry.