Pair who met with ALTs at Hub in Sendai also tests positive for coronavirus

MIIYAGI (TR) – Two persons from Sendai City have been confirmed with the novel coronavirus after meeting with two Assistant Language Teachers (ALT) who also tested positive, reports Kahoku Shimpo (Mar. 30).

According to the Sendai City government, the two residents are a foreign woman in her 30s who teaches at a private school and her male acquaintance, a Japanese national, also in his 30s.

Between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on March 20, the pair met with the group of ALTs at the Ichibancho Yonchome outlet of the Hub chain of English pubs for about 5 minutes, the city said.

The following day, the female teacher met again with the group of ALTs at the same Hub between around 9:00 p.m. and the 1:00 a.m. the next day.

The ALTs live in Akita Prefecture. They returned to the prefecture on March 22. Five days later, the prefectural governor announced that two of the teachers had tested positive for the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

In Sendai, the female teacher visited a medical institution after she began suffering from a fever on March 25. After learning that the ALTs tested positive in Akita, she underwent a test for the coronavirus that gave a positive result on March 29.

Her male acquaintance also began to experience a high fever on March 25. He as well tested positive four days later.

Both persons are receiving treatment at an infectious disease hospital in the city. The condition of neither is considered serious.

According to the city, neither the teacher nor her acquaintance had traveled overseas over the past two weeks.

There have been four cases of coronavirus recorded in Miyagi, three of which were from Sendai.

The Hub outlet has about 70 seats. The city has requested that it shut in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. A special call center has been established for any customers who feel ill after visiting the bar on and after March 20.