Japan’s Narita Airport offers cardboard beds for travellers awaiting coronavirus all-clear
TOKYO: Japan’s Narita Airport has prepared an impromptu hotel of cardboard beds and quilts in its baggage-claim area for passengers from overseas who might have to stay there while awaiting the results of tests for the novel coronavirus.
Though flights at Narita are down so sharply that the airport has closed one of its runways, planes are still landing with passengers arriving from countries including the United States and Italy who are required to undergo tests for the virus before they can head home.
A cardboard bed is seen for passengers in Narita Airport being temporarily quarantined. (Photo: TWITTER/@WASABI1094 via REUTERS)
READ: Japan COVID-19 cases pass 5,000 as state of emergency fails to keep people home
Results can come as quickly as six hours, but delays now mean many take as long as one or two days, an official at the Health Ministry said, declining to give his name.
With passengers forbidden to take public transportation, those with nobody to pick them up have to wait – and the cardboard beds have been readied in case nearby facilities currently being used to house passengers are full, he added.

Cardboard beds are seen for passengers in Narita Airport being temporarily quarantined as they wait for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test results in Narita, Japan, Apr 9, 2020 in this picture obtained from social media. (Photo: TWITTER/@WASABI1094 via REUTERS)
Developed for use in evacuation centres during disasters and any other time when temporary bedding is needed, the beds – made of heavy-duty cardboard – contain a mattress and a quilt.
“There are facilities near the airport for people to stay, so as far as I know the beds haven’t been used yet – or if they have, it’s only been very briefly,” the official said.

Cardboard beds at Narita Airport. (Photo: TWITTER/@WASABI1094 via REUTERS)

Cardboard beds at Narita Airport. (Photo: TWITTER/@WASABI1094 via REUTERS)
Japan last week declared a state of emergency in major population centres to fight the spread of the coronavirus. The number of cases in the country is at least 7,400, with 137 deaths, public broadcaster NHK said.
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