Japan's tripling of coronavirus tests unlikely to improve fight, experts say

A medical worker conducts a simulation for a walk-in style polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a makeshift facility in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Japan, April 23, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's plan to more than triple its coronavirus testing is unlikely to improve its fight against the outbreak without an overhaul in the test approval process, which has kept daily coronavirus-testing well below capacity, experts say.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced his resignation on Friday due to health reasons, said on the same day the government would increase testing capacity to 200,000 a day.