Tokyo launches coronavirus drive-through tests as crisis deepens

Published
0

Tokyo’s first drive-through coronavirus test centre was launched this week, as Japan ramps up efforts to prevent its medical system crumbling under the growing weight of new infections.

The city Yokosuka, south of the capital, is starting walk-through testing on Friday — the first of its kind in Japan — in which samples will be taken by a medical worker stationed in a phone booth-like protective box.

A medical worker conducts a simulation for a walk-in style polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the coronavirus at a makeshift facility in Yokosuka, Japan. — Reuters
A medical worker conducts a simulation for a walk-in style polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the coronavirus at a makeshift facility in Yokosuka, Japan. — Reuters

The launch of the time-efficient tests, which have already been put in place in countries such as neighbouring South Korea, follow criticism from medical experts over the limited access in Japan to PCR (polymerase chain reaction) swab tests.

Read the full Reuters story here.

Opinion

Editorial

Debt that stays
30 Jul, 2026

Debt that stays

THE power sector’s circular debt grew by Rs61bn in the last fiscal year, taking the total to roughly Rs1.67tr from...
HIV warning
30 Jul, 2026

HIV warning

THE HIV infections detected around two SESSI-run hospitals in Karachi demand far more than another hurried committee...
End trafficking
30 Jul, 2026

End trafficking

MODERN slavery, in the form of human trafficking, is among the state’s gravest failures. Scores of Pakistanis are...
AJK elections
29 Jul, 2026

AJK elections

CONSIDERING the political unrest that has rocked Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the recent past, free and fair general...
Still vulnerable
29 Jul, 2026

Still vulnerable

THE State Bank’s decision to hold the policy rate at 11.5pc is a prudent response to the heightened risks the...
Guarding the past
29 Jul, 2026

Guarding the past

THE return of 513 smuggled archaeological artefacts from the US is a welcome homecoming for objects that should ...