TOYAMA – The Liberal Democrat lawyer was present at a drinking party on Friday with about 30 people in Toyama, his office said Saturday, despite authorities’ warnings to ban dinners in large groups to prevent on the spread of the crown-virus.
Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi, a 70-year-old member of the House of Representatives, also collapsed and was taken to hospital in an ambulance after the drinking party, sources familiar with the case said.
“I am deeply saddened to attend the drinking party and apologize,” the former Okinawa and Northern Territories minister said in a statement issued by his office. He suffered minor injuries, according to sources.
Miyakoshi’s visit came despite a warning from the government that eating with five or more people poses a high risk of spreading the virus. Miyakoshi drank with members of the fishing industry in Toyama, his constituency, according to sources.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is in charge of the LDP, has come under fire after taking part in two dinner gatherings in Tokyo earlier this month, the first at a luxury hotel with about 15 people and then at an upscale pub with a total of eight. .
Japan has been seeing the highest numbers of diseases since November and approval rates for the Suga Cabinet have been falling sharply in the past few weeks, comments suggest the public about his treatment of the pandemic.
Suga held a press conference on Friday to urge people in Japan to spend the New Year’s holiday season “quietly” and avoid large gatherings of family and friends.
Hours earlier, Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto confirmed a magazine report that she held a party with five others on Dec. 17 by reserving the seats at a high-end sushi restaurant.
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