In Japan, navigating through the layers of bureaucracy to get tested for the new coronavirus can be difficult even for a Japanese speaker, with many passed from person to person and getting nowhere. Imagine what it would be like for a foreign resident or visitor.
Rebecca, a Canadian American who has lived in Japan for four years and speaks Japanese and gave only her first name, was one of them.
Rebecca contacted several coronavirus hotlines on Friday before being referred to a clinic in Tokyo that had already closed for the day. After taking a taxi to the emergency room at a hospital that evening, she tested negative for influenza and was sent home with cold medication and painkillers.
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