OTARU, Hokkaido -- An outbreak of the novel coronavirus among people who sang karaoke during the day at three locations in Otaru, Hokkaido, is making itself felt throughout the city.
Since Monday, the Otaru city government has suspended about 20 public facilities through July 12, and shutdowns are beginning to spread in the city's tourism industry as well.
The local government said Monday it had confirmed that three more people had contracted the virus, bringing to 36 the total number infected amid the recent cluster at karaoke bars.
The city health center said during a press conference on the day that, of the three people who were confirmed Monday to be infected, two women in their 70s were customers of the karaoke bars and one had developed pneumonia. A man in his 80s who had close contact with karaoke-goers was said to be mildly sick.
According to the city government, there are now 180 people who were either customers at the three karaoke bars designated as the source of the cluster infection or came into close contact with those customers -- including their families.
The name of one of the three bars was announced after its owner became seriously ill due to infection with the coronavirus, leading more than a dozen customers of this bar to come forward to the city government. However, the government said it has yet to identify the remaining 10 or so customers at the bar.
The city government is conducting tests on these people, except for some who were diagnosed as not requiring testing based on health check-ups. About 20 people are scheduled to be tested at the moment.
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