AICHI (TR) – Aichi Prefectural Police have arrested an elderly man claiming to have the novel coronavirus after he visited a massage parlor in Nagoya last month, reports Kyodo News (May 12).
At around 12:05 on April 7, Jun Sugiyama arrived at the reception desk of the parlor in the Miyako Underground Shopping Mall, located near JR Nagoya Station.
“This is the coronavirus,” Sugiyama said to two female employees in referring to his finger as he tapped the desk.
After the incident, Sugiyama, a resident of Inuyama City, left the parlor, which underwent sterilization.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of disruption of business on Monday, Sugiyama denied the allegations. “This little rascal tapped the desk,” he told the Nakamura Police Station in apparently referring to his finger. “However, I did not mention the coronavirus.”
About one hour after the incident, the management company for the mall reported the matter to the Nakamura Police Station. Officers from the station arrived at the parlor in protective gear.
Police added that it is not known whether Sugiyama is infected with the coronavirus. However, he shows no symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
