Govt Plans to Require Foreign Spectators for the Games to Use Smartphone Health App

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:33 JST, December 28, 2020

Takuya Hirai, minister for digital transformation, said on Sunday that the government plans to require foreign spectators coming to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to use a special health management phone app.

“It will not be effective unless we go so far as to deny entry to Japan for those who don’t use it,” Hirai said in a Fuji TV program.

The app is currently under development for use by foreign spectators as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Hirai also said, “We have to ask [foreign spectators] to turn on [their smartphones’ Global Positioning System],” to be able to track their location information.