mcrw00

I am currently shaking a very mild case of COVID with plans to enter Japan in 2 weeks. I have heard that some people persistently test positive on PCR tests for weeks/months after recovering. Has anyone facing that situation successfully entered Japan, and if so, what documentation did you use to explain?

Q Shoe Guy

Kindly review the wiki in the thread linked below :

Coronavirus impact in Japan [consolidated]

rjque

I reviewed it, and it does not appear to answer the OP's question. Or perhaps the answer is well hidden?

JapanFlyerT

It is a tough situation and I am curious what the answer is.
I would guess that there is a pretty good chance you will be denied boarding or entry if you have a recent positive PCR result. I can't seem to find any reference to "recovery from Covid" on this site:

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/covid-19/bordercontrol.html

There may be some kind of exception certificate, perhaps the consulate can help you out.

mcrw00

I’ve preemptively reached out to my consulate to see if any such exception exists. Will share anything pertinent in their reply.

Gig103

What about finding a "Quantitative antigen test (CLEIA/ECLIA)"? If is my novice understanding that the PCR tests are the ones that show positive after the fact, maybe check antigen? Also it is worth finding out what test Japan uses on arrival. One other thought is that I've seen other countries accept A " fit to travel" letter accompanied by the recent covid positive test result. I do not see that listed in Japan's faq.

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pesos

Hmm, subscribing as we are heading to Hawaii in June and just recovered from omicron. Looks like getting into Hawaii should be straightforward enough with a doctor's letter (if we are still testing positive by then, hopefully not) but can't seem to get a clear answer (we called the govt here) regarding the return to Japan. Curious what others discover.

mcrw00

For sure. Statistically this is more likely to have affected Japan residents trying to return than foreigners trying to newly enter, so curious to know if you hear anything from the returnee side. Still waiting to hear back from my consulate. If I had to guess their answer will be that waiving the negative test requirement for entry requires special approval from the Consul and is probably granted only in cases where denial of entry would be wrong on humanitarian grounds. Even with such consular permission, I can’t even imagine the fun of trying to explain that to an airline agent.

EDIT: Heard back from the consulate that there are NO exceptions to the need for a negative COVID-19 certificate. Certificates of recovery are not recognized. But anecdotally heard from a Japanese acquaintance that a recovery letter could help you avoid quarantine if popping positive at the arrival airport. My guess is that in reality these circumstances are handled on a case-by-case basis on the ground, but the official policy remains that no negative test result = no entry.

JapanFlyerT

I imagine there are tens of millions of people out there who have recovered from Covid and may not even know it, let alone have it documented. They may pass an antigen test for departure (if necessary) and then fail a return test. Pretty inconvenient to say the least.

pesos

Hmm yeah once in-country I don't expect it would be that difficult to deal with (especially for the rest of my family who are all citizens), but I worry about them potentially testing positive in Hawaii prior to boarding.

I guess we will plan to all take a lab nasopharyngeal test a few weeks before departing Japan and see how things are looking then.

Topcare

Fixed it for you. Having also overcome Omi I'm sure my PCR will light up like a Christmas tree.

mcrw00

Confirmed with the MHLW on their hotline that certs of recovery are NOT recognized. You need a negative test certificate, or no dice.

Only sliver of hope is the agent mentioned that many people had called asking about this. It’s probably going to take Japanese travelers being inconvenienced on their return to actually move the needle, but nonetheless, worth calling them to add a tally to their list if you anticipate ever being inconvenienced by this absurdity.

mcrw00

Guess this is why the MHLW has published a “Request to Defer Travel”…would be curious to see the actual updated numbers for outbound Japanese business and leisure travelers. I’d imagine this testing nonsense is forcing a lot of companies to highly restrict international travel.

Topcare

what is also hilarious is that some of the private labs here certificates are devoid of any security features that any child with any ounce of skill could duplicate.

mcrw00

Not to mention the MHLW’s actual certificate…I’m sure a nonzero portion of the daily positives at the airports are from persistent positive returnees who fudged the certificate just to get on the flight.