On March 4, an unidentified man in his 50s went to the hospital in Gamagori City, Aichi Prefecture, to be checked for the coronavirus because both of his parents whom he lives with were found to have been infected. Even though he was asymptomatic, medical staff informed him that the test results were positive.
Since the test results were confirmed in the evening, the hospital instructed the man to wait at home while they searched for a medical facility that could help him the following day. After leaving the hospital the infected man seemed to interpret “wait at home” as “wait at home after stopping by a couple public places where bodily fluids are easily transmitted” and went to various places such as an izakaya and Filipino bar that same evening.
According to some reports, he even told others that he had tested positive at each establishment. After smacking his lips on tasty finger-foods and knocking back a few drinks, which in all likelihood resulted in him using the restroom and not properly washing his hands several times, the man finally went home. The next day he was sent to a proper treatment facility.
The names of the establishments were not disclosed, but they should be easy to find as the only ones closed down and sprayed by people in hazmat suits in this relatively small coastal city.
City officials held a press conference –- ironically increasing the risk of contagion in doing so –- and apologized for the incident.
Meanwhile, netizens felt that rather than the hospital and city, blame fell largely on this Typhoid Mary of the Gamagori bar scene.
“I could understand it if he were all alone or the only person providing for his family, but this…”
“Oh, this isn’t good.”
“I feel really bad for the restaurants.”
“And here everyone’s worried about all the students moving about…”
“Arrest him. He is a threat to the public.”
“People like this are inevitable unfortunately.”
“Couldn’t he have just gotten a drink at a convenience store instead?”
“Those places better sue him.”
“Release the names of the places he ate at! I can’t eat there ever again.”
It’s important to remember that the bars are the victims in all this and judging by eyewitnesses they are taking all precautions to disinfect their establishments, at a presumably hefty cost. Combined with the overall drop in people going out and recent hike in sales tax on eat-in diners, this is quickly becoming extremely hard times for restaurateurs big and small.
Sources: FNN Prime, Breaking News Japan, My Game News Flash
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- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2020/03/07/confirmed-coronavirus-patient-in-aichi-told-to-go-home-goes-bar-hopping-instead/
67 Comments
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blvtzpk
Sheer idiocy.
savethegaijin
He should be arrested for endangering the public. Point blank.
buffalo
ankle 'bracelet' should help with the home detention
HOstess_in_tokyo
I wonder how many people will do the same thing. Some people won't even go to the hospital to get checked simply because they can't afford to. Especially foreigners working in Japan. Either they can't afford to take off work or lack of insurance.
James Stowe
The isolation approach only works in China I guess.
Certainly won't work in the West.
Mocheake
Yeah, based on my own observations, I would guess that was the case.
nandakandamanda
A lot of decorative imagination has been inserted into the above story, but one other fact is true according to a family member, that is, What he said as he left the house: ばらまいてやる or “I’m going out to spread this around.”
Do the hustle
This should be a criminal offense although, I’m not sure what law he could have broken. It’s just stupid and reckless. Unfortunately, being stupid is not illegal.
tamanegi
"After smacking his lips on tasty finger-foods and knocking back a few drinks, which in all likelihood resulted in him using the restroom and not properly washing his hands several times"
I'd say that's a given.
Vince Black
Absolute knobhead.
Forget quarantine he needs to be jailed and fined. What a loser.
JenniSchiebel
Yikes.
Blattamexiguus
Sadly I'm not even surprised.
Name and shame this fubar.
then lock him up
Abu Esha
Virus has turned japanese crazy, if there were 80,000 cases like china, it would be chaos for sure.
Ah_so
He should be named and shamed.
Although I guess the whole neighborhood knows him and his family, so he will be a social outcast. Feel sorry for his family who have the disgrace.
Fuzzy
Don't name him. This loser is craving attention. Better still, don't even report crap like this. It doesn't help anyone.
commanteer
There are laws against everything here, and most countries have laws against intentionally spreading disease. The police could arrest him, but they may not want to deal with the quarantine issues in their jail.
OssanAmerica
Guess what? Same thing applies to Americans working in America. Japan at least has a national insurance plan that can cover foreigners under certain immigration status'.
"If any of the 28 million people without insurance develop symptoms and get coronavirus tests, they could face medical bills that could push them further into poverty."
https://time.com/5797295/coronavirus-testing-free-all-americans/
Garthgoyle
Jail him after he recovers from the virus. I understand the feeling of having something that can't be cured but willingly wanting to infect others? That's so messed up.
MikeH
By law, every foreigner working in Japan should have enrolled in the National health insurance or company insurance or their visa is revoked / not renewed!
Foreigners also take sick days far more often and easily in comparison to Japanese. So your statement is outright wrong or you are talking about some shady foreigners without proper visa and doing illegal work in Japan!
towingtheline
What a real POS. He should be arrested and charged under some kind of terrorism law (intentionally wanting to cause harm and suffering to innocent people)...
TigersTokyoDome
Should be easy for the bars to recover losses from him in court. And penalise the hospital that sent him home.
There may not be a law for the government to arrest him. But the cost of disinfection and the business losses for the bars should be a straightforward court case against him.
This all started by the idiotic hospital that sent him home despite a positive result. Penalise them for sure.
FizzBit
Similar Dum@ass Award case here in Hiroshima today. 30 yr old guy has had it for more than 15 days, went to 8 different doctors. Wife and two kids too.
invalid CSRF
bass4funk
Wow! The guy has some serious brass ones. Where I come from someone that selfish would be taken out in the back and get a heavy lecture.
Alistair Carnell
This smacks of fear fuelled urban myth. I was told this same story yesterday, but was told that the unnamed perpetrator was based in Hyogo.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all, if this story spreads even quicker than the virus itself.
JCosplay
I agree with you wobot. And I’m not usually one to call for such measures, but considering that this is such a serious disease, then by all means if he sent out to spread it on purpose, he needs to be jailed.
This is so infuriating considering how rapidly this virus is spreading as it is. And that some places are finally getting a handle on this, and we have to deal with scumbags like this? I mean seriously.
noriahojanen
He's an exceptional and extreme case. But the Japanese word 要請 "asking" or "requesting" is ambiguous, subject to interpretations. Unfit to the official statement.
In Czech, infected people would be fined if found breaking quarantine at home.
Fuzzy
I think you've hit the nail on the head. You can tell by the way the original article was written. Then it gets republished by sites like this, then social media pick up on it, and before you know it we have people fighting over toilet paper.
As I said, best to not "report" crap like this.
Dio
Sue him for murder!
Kazuaki Shimazaki
Well, start by giving priority testing to those in the same bar as he was.
Next, if any of those people test positive, arrest that guy for Injury after his turn at the hospital. If none, then unfortunately he is indeed completely untouchable.
DaDude
He should be forced to pay the izakayas' loss of earnings, those infecteds' medical bills and a percentage of the cancellation fee of the Olympics if that happens.
jeancolmar
This is but one example of how a single thoughtless idiot can cause a panic, besides possibly infecting people. After reading this do you want to go out to a restaurant or a bar? The problem is that there is no way to predict if someone like this bar hopper is going to sit down next to you.
This guy ought to be arrested.
But likely it won't ease people's fears.
I hope my favorite eateries are doing okay without me.
Fanny Greene
if the virus doesn't kill him, he will be tarred and feathered when he gets home.
either way problem solved ; )
gogogo
Reads like total gossip, if this were real they would release the names of the places in order to inform the the public.
lesenfant
A 50 year old still living with his parents... says everything right there.
No wonder he was spreading it around.
Tom Denk
I call this Fake-news, a bit fear mongering so Abe can point with fingers to gets his "Emergency Plan" ( more power for those who are in charge but failed so far )
NCIS Reruns
"Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die (of coronavirus)."
commanteer
It takes but a moment to look into this story and see that it is true - the city held a press conference about it. Cynically calling everything fake-news is as ignorant is believing everything one reads. Click the links, learn to read critically, learn some Japanese - it's not hard to tell a real story from a fake story. This story is real.
skinnee
Some of the Filipino bars I've been to need to be decontaminated by people in Hazmat suits more often.
funkymofo
@gogogo
My friend's co worker lives in the same apartment complex. Apparently it's all true and the family, that guy in particular, have a reputation for being creepy and weird. It does sound like the kind of cheap gossip that has been mixed up with the coronavirus epidemic though,I agree.
JenniSchiebel
Well, the city did have a press conference about it, so the story looks to be true.
Tora
What about people who have Coronavirus like symptoms? This guy doesn't even have any! You'd never know, would you? Those trains in Tokyo are jammed with coughing and spluttering people.
I asked a friend of mine with with flu like symptoms (not tested) why she is still going to work, like most other Japanese, even though they have coughs, etc..The answer was that it was the Japanese way.
That's the scary thing.
Fighto!
In his 50s, still living at home, mommy still cooking and cleaning for him. No prospects on the horizon, not much worth getting out of bed for. I get it. But that doesnt give this dropkick a free pass to endanger the lives of so many people due to sheer selfishness.
If anyone connected to these izakaya gets sick, arrest, sue and jail him.
Emily Jean
shame of the country..
smithinjapan
Vince Black: "Absolute knobhead."
Agree with you there.
"Forget quarantine he needs to be jailed and fined. What a loser."
Not there, though. In the same way I don't blame kids who have been asked to stay home because the government closed the schools (despite them now saying it was not their fault, and was only "a suggestion") but go out instead and sit at McD's, play in parks, or hang out at malls, I don't blame a guy for wanting to have fun when it was only "suggested" he go home. Nor do I blame the people from Wuhan didn't go into quarantine because they were told they could ride the trains home or what have you after being flown back. It's the government's fault that they don't quarantine people immediately upon testing positive and just "suggest" they go home. I mean, this guy could have stayed out partying all night instead of eventually letting common sense sink in.
Serrano
Not really, according to family members quoted in the Tokyo reporter he deliberately set out to infect other people... If true, he needs to be jailed
He needs to be jailed regardless of intent.
kurisupisu
Went out tonight and screw the virus eh!
Wolfpack
I am not surprised anymore by the propensity of human beings to engage in selfish or self-destructive behavior. It’s sad to say but this mans behavior is what you can expect from a not insignificant fraction of people.
Anyone know what a Filipino bar is?
fillmore2
the hospital did everything right, they do not have any power to hold him , but it only take this kind of idiot to break the containment
this scum of the earth did more damage than any mass killing since the infection does not stop it continues from 1 to 1000s in week
this is why letting the passengers from the ship take public transportation to their home was so reckless also
Wolfpack
What law did he break? If he is guilty of a crime so is the hospital and the medical authorities who took no action to detain him. I agree that the man was irresponsible at best but Japan isn’t a Communist country where people can have their freedom infringed without due process or at least a finding of violation of law. There may be a law against his reckless behavior- but even in relatively extreme situations such as this, people have rights.
David Varnes
Hostess bar that's exclusively staffed by Filipina ladies.
fillmore2
from 13th, they can arrest fools like this idiot, the problem is that he will be at the isolated hospital first and getting the treatment, after he recovers, they can send this idiot back to jail where he will be with real criminals,
Wallace Fred
Hows no one calling out just how unprepared the government is to handle this outbreak? A positive individual was actually asked to go back home instead of being quarantined as is commonly done. Hows no one blaming the government for failing to care for the general masses?
fillmore2
good call, I am not talking about the Filipino hostess bar,
well, it's the same thing as letting those passengers in the ship go home using public transportation, this is so reckless that i don't have any more words to describe my disgust.
if hospital is this messed up, i don't know how they are going to handle massive infections which is coming soon. U.S had 50 and now over 300 now,
not testing, buying time is not going to do it. this will be biggest man made disaster because J. Government did not act and playing waiting game. artificially lowering the infected numbers and playing politic with number will be very short term, when patients starting coming into the hospital and there are no isolated bed/facilities , this will be a pandemic cause by J government, and the man on the top will take majority of the blame.
Ricky Kaminski13
Ok, so the honor system doesn’t work.Proper melonhead, that should actually be charged and made an example of. Someone’s grandma could die because of you mate. Hope it was a good night...
Jeff Ko
Why the big fuss? No testing means no infection! Move on, folks nothing to see here lol
Roblay
Seriously! They should let everyone know who that person is.
1glenn
Some behaviors can be dismissed as examples of The Darwin Effect - the individual(s) doing the behavior will eliminate themselves from the gene pool, to the betterment of everyone else. This is not one of those cases. He put a lot of other people at risk, knowingly and intentionally. If anyone dies because of his bad behavior, they are probably not at fault. I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that there is a case for criminal liability.
Pukey2
I'm wondering whether the Japanese government has already cited '(Japanese) human rights' like when they did after the two of the first returnees from Wuhan refused to go into quarantine. I'd like to see this guy try the same trick in China or Singapore.
And for those who are asking why a 50-year old guy is still living with his parents - some people have to look after their old folks. There are some cultures which prefer not to let the elderly relatives go into care homes. And some cultures aren't into throwing 18-year olds out of the home. Get so sick and tired of people assuming other cultures have to follow the western standards.
HOstess_in_tokyo
I'm sure it also applies to America. I didn't say this was only an issue in Japan.
HOstess_in_tokyo
By law, many companies are supposed to pay half of the employees health insurance. That doesn't mean it actually happens. They often word their contracts to avoid paying their half. They are known as black companies. Which is most English companies in Japan.
Japanese are given sick days and paid holidays and are allowed to use them. Many companies employing foreigners try to force their employees to take their paid holidays on days the company chooses.
Most foreigners work on 1 year contracts and aren't really given any real job stability. So, it's not outright wrong. Please try again.
HJSLLS
Oh good grief!
The world will never get a handle on this virus if people are so cavalier about it. The doctors should not need to spell it out when they say, “go home!” ( meaning, go straight home and avoid contact with any human being).
Strangerland
Logically you are right. Unfortunately, with all the hysteria built up around the virus, some people will react in illogical ways, due to the stress of the situation.
itsonlyrocknroll
Apart from coronavirus infection, this looney tunes is criminally insane, there is a padded cell with this prat name on it.
rlaalswls
Japan is not actively taking measures against viruses in the country itself?
If you are already infected with new infections, you should actively test, but do you limit the test?
Most people in Korea are asymptomatic or have cold symptoms.
Can you guarantee that all Japanese citizens are safe?
Nobody knows how widespread it is in Japan, which still limits censorship, given the speed of the virus.
Although the actual number of deaths in Japan has not increased, are there any other deaths? In China, more people died of disease than just virus deaths. This is scarier.
Connor Äb
Even if it wasn't a more serious disease you don't go out and spend time in public places, at that point you're just being rude. Dude needs to be taught some discipline.