On the 22nd, members of the Nishio City Council bowed their heads for apology at Nishio City Hall in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. These 14 council members held a banquet at an inn in the city on the 18th, accompanied by a female receptionist. [이미지출처 = 연합뉴스]
[아시아경제 최은영 기자] While the spread of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in Japan is unclear, some politicians are being beaten by the fact that they have been drinking with female helpers. They are even being criticized even more for their excuses for “corona 19 infection concerns” for the female helper present.
According to foreign media such as the Tokyo newspaper on the 27th, the fact that 14 members of the Nishio City council in Aichi Prefecture had a drinking party at a ryokan on the 18th became controversial. In particular, it was a big problem that they had three female assistants present while having a drink at a ryokan run by a fellow city councilor for about two hours.
When the controversy arose, they said, “I apologize for the careless behavior,” but excused that “calling a female helper was done to prevent Corona 19.”
He said, “If I repeat sitting and standing up to pour alcohol to other attendees, the possibility of spreading the Corona 19 virus in any case increases, so I called a helper wearing a mask for safety.”
A similar controversy arose at the Yamazoe village assembly in Nara Prefecture. Here, five village council members hired three helpers to have a drink in a nearby village.
Chairman of the Kawabata Kazuyuki Village Council explained, “We would have poured alcohol if it was normal, but now (in the Corona 19 situation) it is not so, so we called the helpers to pour alcohol.”
In response to their excuses, an infectious disease expert pointed out, “It is unreasonable to attach infection prevention to the reason for calling a helper to a drink,” and pointed out that “in this situation, it is appropriate to drink your own alcohol.”
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga attends and speaks at a new coronavirus infectious disease (Corona 19) countermeasure headquarters meeting held at the Tokyo Prime Minister’s Office on the evening of the 14th. [이미지출처=연합뉴스]
Meanwhile, in Japan, politicians are being beaten with careless actions in contrast to the recent corona 19 spread.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga attended a stake dinner with a total of 8 people on the night of the 14th, which became controversial. Prime Minister Suga apologized again saying, “I reflect deeply,” but Japanese netizens said, “Since Suga has this attitude, the local LDP lawmakers are also out of touch.” It is difficult to take out, but the gap is too severe.”
There were 3,881 confirmed cases of Corona 19 in Japan on the 27th. The cumulative number of confirmed cases was 219,000, and the number of deaths was 3,247. Japan recorded 3,270 on the 23rd, 3,740 on the 24th, and 3,831 on the 25th, breaking the record every day. Therefore, recently, the case of a variant corona 19 infection from the UK has occurred and has been suffering from measles.
Intern reporter Choi Eun-young [email protected]