The Japanese government on Tuesday announced it would unveil more steps to offset the impact of the outbreak, focusing on support for small businesses, strengthening medical facilities and providing subsidies to parents who must go on leave because schools are closed. Finance Minister Taro Aso said the government would tap the remainder of this financial year’s budget reserve, worth some 270 billion yen (US$2.6 billion), to help finance the package.

However, he said there was no need yet for a bigger extra budget, adding that the fallout from the outbreak so far is not akin to the 2009 financial crisis.

The package underscores the pressure on policymakers to back fragile growth and stem the risk of corporate bankruptcies, as event cancellations and a tourism slump threaten to hit the broader economy hard.

Kazuhiro Tateda, the president of the Japanese Association of Infectious Diseases, told This Week in Asia that expectations the virus will be killed off by warmer summer weather may be incorrect.

“The basic problem at the moment is that we just do not know enough about the virus,” he said. “But this is a virus with many similarities with the common cold and we know that while there are fewer colds in the warmer months, it is still possible to catch a cold in the summer.

“Right now, we are guessing that there will be fewer cases when the weather is warmer and that the situation will get better, but we do not know if it will disappear entirely,” he said. “We have concerns about new clusters emerging and, with the Tokyo Olympic Games coming up soon, we have to be as prepared as we can be.”

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The man, who has not been named as he has not been arrested, went to a hospital on March 4 in Gamagori city, central Aichi Prefecture, after both his parents were confirmed to have caught the virus.

Tests indicated that the man, in his 50s, also had the illness, and he was told to isolate himself at home until a specialist medical facility could accept him the following day, the FNN Prime news outlet reported.

The man ignored the advice, however, with the Fuji News Network reporting that he told a relative he would go out to “spread the virus”. The man then took a taxi, and had a meal at an izakaya restaurant, before going to a bar where he sang karaoke with a Filipino hostess.

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In both venues, he eventually told staff that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Alarmed, a member of staff at the bar contacted a local health centre. Local police in protective clothing arrived and closed both premises. The man had already left the karaoke bar and returned home by taxi.

Both bars have been closed to undergo sterilisation measures, and staff and customers are being tested for the virus.

The man was admitted to a hospital for treatment the following day. Police are expected to charge him in the coming days.

The Tokyo Reporter website quoted a member of staff of one of the bars saying: “I can’t get this straight in my head. I cannot express it in words since I only have anger.”

The owner of the karaoke bar, who was not identified, said: “Employees have had their livelihoods snatched away. This is nothing but terrorism. I want him to be severely punished.”

That anger was echoed on social media sites, with a user on the Japan Today website commenting: “He should be arrested for endangering the public. Point blank.”

A message on the Tokyo Reporter site stated: “The degree of selfishness in some people astounds me.”

Separately, the government also announced that reselling of face masks for profit would become a crime punishable by a one-year prison sentence or a 1 million yen (US$9,800) fine, or both.

The new rule, aimed at preventing would-be profiteers from taking advantage of a nationwide shortage of face masks, will take effect on March 15.

In a prominent example of price gouging, an assemblyman in central Japan was revealed to have made 8.9 million yen off of selling packets of 2,000 face masks in online auctions for between 30,000 yen to 170,000 yen each. He later apologised but authorities said it was unclear whether the assemblyman, 53-year-old Hiroyuki Morota of Shizuoka Prefecture, could have been charged under the new rule because he runs a trading company and may not be classified as a reseller.

 Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Kyodo