April 28 (UPI) — In preparation for an influx of tourists for the Golden Week holiday, the Japanese government announced on Friday it was lifting its current COVID-19 border guidelines.

Golden Week encompasses four national holidays within a seven-day span and is considered one of the three busiest holidays annually in Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said they are dropping the requirement that all entrants to Japan present certification of at least three COVID-19 vaccination doses or a negative coronavirus test taken within 72 hours of departure.

Japan had issued the requirement in December for all arrivals from neighboring mainland China in light of an explosion in infections there after Beijing lifted its tough “zero-COVID” policy.

Japan will start a new genomic surveillance program at Haneda, Narita, and three other major airports, on May 8, where entrants with symptoms including fever will be asked to undergo a voluntary test to detect new infectious diseases.

Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said he believes the move will mark the next phase in the way Japan is responding to COVID-19.

“From May 8, the government will no longer ask people to refrain from going out or require them to be hospitalized under the law when they test positive for COVID-19,” Kato said in a briefing. “Anti-infection measures will be left up to individuals, though the government will continue to provide some reference information.”

While still off from pre-pandemic numbers, Japan already has been seeing an increase in recent tourism. Japanese inbound tourists reached 1.82 million in March, an increase of more than 340,000 from the previous month.

Japan is hoping to boost those numbers closer to the 2.76 million visitors they saw in March 2019.