Japan PM apologises after lawmakers' night club outings (updated)
27/01/2021 09:43
(Adds lawmaker's hospitalisation paragraphs 9-12)
TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide
Suga apologised on Wednesday after lawmakers from his ruling
coalition visited night clubs despite his government's call for
people to avoid unnecessary outings to curb the spread of
COVID-19.
The news is another headache for Suga whose approval rating
has tumbled because of dissatisfaction with his handling of the
pandemic, which critics have called too slow and
inconsistent. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2K0018
"I'm terribly sorry that this happened when we are asking
people not to eat out after 8 p.m. and to avoid non-essential,
non-urgent outings," Suga told parliament.
"Each lawmaker should behave to gain the public's
understanding."
Japan this month issued a state of emergency in Tokyo and
other areas to tame a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. The
measure includes a request for restaurants and bars to close by
8 p.m. although there are currently no penalties for
non-compliance.
"My behaviour was careless at a time when we are asking
people to be patient," Jun Matsumoto, a senior lawmaker from the
ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters.
Matsumoto was speaking following a Daily Shincho magazine
report that he had visited two night clubs in Tokyo's posh Ginza
district after dining at an Italian restaurant last Monday.
Kiyohiko Toyama, a lawmaker from the coalition's junior
partner Komeito, also apologised after tabloid Shukan Bunshun
reported he had visited a high-end night club in Ginza until
late last Friday.
Other incidents have stoked public anger.
LDP lawmaker Nobuteru Ishihara was swiftly admitted to
hospital despite not showing symptoms after he tested positive
for the novel coronavirus on Friday.
Yet Japan has more than 35,000 people recuperating at home
as hospitals struggle to provide beds for COVID-19 patients and
at least 25 people died while at home, according to a recent
survey by broadcaster TBS.
"I can't feel sorry enough for the people who died in agony
in their own homes after not being able to find a hospital,"
said one Twitter user.
(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto, Kaori Kaneko, Sakura
Murakami; Editing by Chris Gallagher, Raju Gopalakrishnan and
Timothy Heritage)
((kaori.kaneko@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-4563-2733;))