At least a dozen people involved in the service industry that operates late at night to early morning in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, have been infected with the new coronavirus.
Most of them are reported to be women who work in hostess clubs and men who work for adult establishments in and around Kabukicho, one of the nation's leading entertainment districts.
The number of infections in the ward has increased sharply since late March, according to ward officials.
When the ward and other authorities investigated, they found many of the infected were women who work at establishments where they sit next to customers and men who scout women for these kind of jobs.
Authorities asked them about routes of transmission and the people they were in close contact with, but many have refused to cooperate. It is suspected that the actual number of infections is much greater.
Shinjuku Ward Mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi took the unusual step Tuesday of asking people to refrain from using these kinds of services.
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