The National Tax Agency announced Tuesday that seven staff members from its taxation department who had gone out drinking at izakaya bars have been infected with the novel coronavirus.
According to the agency, 14 employees in their 20s to 40s from the agency and the regional taxation bureaus joined in five outings at izakaya bars in Tokyo from June 6 to June 9 under the name of farewell parties or other occasions.
Each outing consisted of three or four people drinking for a maximum of 2-1/2 hours between around 7 p.m. to around 10:30 p.m. One staff member developed a fever on Saturday and was confirmed to be infected.
The outings were held during the period of emergency-level priority measures implemented to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The agency had instructed staff to limit their drinking to 90 minutes and no more than two people, in line with the request from the Tokyo metropolitan government. But this directive was not followed, which the agency called "truly regrettable."
The agency was already being criticized after issuing a statement last Thursday jointly with the Cabinet Secretariat to industry groups asking them to stop doing business with restaurants that serve alcohol in defiance of the government request.
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