Tokyo sets up free COVID test sites for Bon holidaymakers

The Tokyo metropolitan government on Friday set up free coronavirus testing sites at six locations in the capital, including major train stations, as part its measures against COVID-19 during the Bon holiday period.

The metropolitan government is urging people to use the temporary sites before and after hometown trips or other travel.

The six sites are among 117 free testing locations established across the nation by the central government for the summer holiday season. The six sites are at five railway stations — Tokyo, Shinagawa, Ueno, Ikebukuro and Shinjuku — and the Busta Shinjuku expressway bus terminal. The facilities will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Aug. 18, and online reservations are required.

On Friday morning, a succession of luggage-toting travelers visited the testing site at JR Shinagawa Station.

“I’m afraid of being asymptomatic and infecting others without knowing it, so I came to take a test, just in case,” said a 44-year-old company employee of Minato Ward, Tokyo, who plans to return to her Kanagawa Prefecture hometown on Monday.

“I want to relax in my hometown while avoiding crowds during the holiday period,” she added.