Coronavirus: Tokyo’s red-light district workers to be tested for Covid-19 after new spike

Several new infections linked to workers in city’s entertainment and red-light district

Commuters walk toward a railway station in front of an entrance to Kabukicho, Japan's biggest nightlife entertainment district at Shinjuku, in Tokyo, 25 May 2020. (Kimimasa Mayama/EPA)

Workers in Tokyo’s red-light district will be asked to take regular coronavirus tests following a spike in cases.

The Japanese capital confirmed 14 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday – six of which reportedly involved people working in the city’s night-time economy.

It came after 26 new infections on Saturday, many of which were said to be linked to nightclub workers in Kabukicho – the city’s entertainment and red-light district.

The surge in cases led to Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike announcing a package of measures aimed at stopping the spread of the deadly disease in the city’s nightlife districts, Kyodo news agency reports.

After meeting with economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Sunday, Ms Koike announced the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments had agreed to set up a system to regularly test people working in the city’s nightlife districts.

She told reporters: “We want to make sure that people do not catch or transmit the virus also in night entertainment district.”

The rise in infections is thought to be linked to the relaxing of lockdown restrictions at the end of last month.

According to Kyodo, the number of new cases linked to “host bars”, where women pay to speak to and drink with young men, and other types of bars in the city has been increasing since then.

Japan ended its nationwide state of emergency on 25 May, with Tokyo among the last five areas to have restrictions lifted.

Under the state of emergency, people were asked to stay at home and non-essential businesses were requested to close or reduce operations, but there was no enforcement.

The minister in charge of policies to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in Japan on Monday said the country will stop short of offering blanket coronavirus tests, and instead target the vulnerable and those most at risk in a bid to prevent a second wave of infections.

Japan is currently well behind other major economies in the number of completed coronavirus tests, drawing criticism from some experts that it is not doing enough to trace the virus and prevent clusters.

Additional reporting by agencies