Another five of the 23 health ministry staff who held a late-night farewell party last month have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, it has been announced.
The 23 staff, who all belonged to the Division of the Health for the Elderly in the ministry's Health and Welfare Bureau for the Elderly at the time, gathered in late March at an izakaya pub in the Ginza district of Tokyo.
Including the most recently announced five, a total of 12 attendees at the party have tested positive.
Another five staff who belong to the division but did not go to the party have also tested positive.
There are now 27 people who belonged to the division as of March and have tested positive. The National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) has designated the situation as a COVID-19 cluster.
The NIID is examining the case and has presented two possibilities as to how the cluster broke out. The institution said the virus may have entered the bureau in mid-March or after and spread in the workplace, but it cannot rule out the possibility that the cluster developed as a result of the farewell party.
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