Peru opens Machu Picchu for a single tourist after being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic

Peru has opened Machu Picchu for the first time in seven months for a single visitor who has been stranded in the country since March.

The 15th-century Inca site has been closed since March due to the coronavirus pandemic but was opened for Jesse Takayama, a Japanese tourist who has been stranded in Peru for months.

Mr Takayama posted on his Instagram account: “The first person on Earth who went to Machu Picchu since the lockdown is meeee."

He added: "I thought I couldn't go anymore, but everyone asked the village mayor and the government.

"I was allowed to go super special”

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The 26-year-old boxing instructor has been stranded in the country since mid-March and has living in the town of Aguas Calientes, on the slopes of the mountains near the site. 

Peru’s Minister of Culture Alejandro Neyra on Monday said: “He had come to Peru with the dream of being able to enter.”  

He added that Mr Takayama visited the Inca site with Machu Picchu’s head of the park.

The site is still not open, despite Mr Takayama's visit, Peru is understood to be working on a plan to reopen the UNESCO World Heritage Site in November.

In a normal year, Machu Picchu receives around 2,500 visitors every day.

Due to the pandemic, it is understood only a third of the usual amount of people will be able to visit, with social distancing in place throughout.