Tokyo enlists nightclub workers for Q&A-style videos to fight coronavirus

[August 08, 2020]  By Chang-Ran Kim

TOKYO (Reuters) - Alarmed by a spike in infections in Tokyo's nightlife districts, the metropolitan government has released educational videos in the form of a Q&A between nightclub hosts, a hostess and a doctor, hoping to stem the spread of the outbreak.

"What kind of symptoms can a young COVID-19 patient expect?"

"What are medical costs like?"

"How often should we sanitise our hands?"

Those are some of the questions posed in the three videos that feature young workers from nightclubs in the city's red-light districts where infections have crept up since the government lifted a state of emergency in late May.

In the first of the 7-8 minute videos, a nightclub host Shota Taira asks the doctor general questions such as whether an asymptomatic person who has tested positive could infect others.

Taira then appears to toss a heart-shaped pillow virtually to a hostess in the next video, passing the Q&A baton.

Her questions centre on prevention measures, while the final questioner, another host, focuses on what to do if infected.

The doctor recommends temperature checks at the nightclub entrance, safe distancing between seats, and cautions against drinking directly out of the same bottle or having customers served by different hostesses.

Recent outbreaks in Tokyo have occurred in the Kabukicho and Ikebukuro red-light districts' many host clubs, where young men entertain women customers over drinks, and also at the female equivalent hostess or "cabaret" clubs.

An online Q&A session between a specialist doctor and young workers who entertain at host and hostess clubs, which have been major hotspots of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Japanese capital, is featured in this still image taken from an undated handout video released by Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health and obtained by Reuters on July 14, 2020. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health/Handout via REUTERS

Tokyo has seen new daily infections top 200 in four of the last six days, small compared with outbreaks in some other countries but hovering at record levels for the city. The majority of those infected are in their 20s and 30s with light or no symptoms, making it difficult to trace the virus.

Tokyo has targeted red-light districts for aggressive testing and has urged nightclubs to follow safety guidelines.

Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura has warned that nightclubs could be suspended if they do not comply.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, additional reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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