Japan is considering further easing its COVID-19 border controls by raising the daily cap on entrants to 7,000 from the current 5,000, government sources said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Japanese government raised the cap for foreign nationals entering the country for purposes other than tourism and Japanese nationals returning from 3,500 and eased quarantine rules.

While it is not known when the government may raise the ceiling to 7,000, the sources said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to announce details at a press conference on Thursday.

The government is facing growing calls for further easing of the cap to allow more people in including foreign students, the sources said.

Japan initially implemented the entry ban in late November to keep the Omicron variant of the coronavirus at bay. Easing of the COVID-19 border curbs from Tuesday came ahead of the start of the new school and business year in April.

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