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Avex, Sony Music, Kojima Production Employees Diagnosed With COVID-19

Avex, Sony Music Entertainment, and Kojima Productions have all announced since Saturday that an employee at each company has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Avex announced on Saturday that one employee has been diagnosed with COVID-19, and the company is taking precautions related to the diagnosis. Avex is tracking the previous actions of the diagnosed employee, and the company is monitoring people who have had close contact with the employee. The company instructed people who came in close contact with the employee to stay home and monitor their health.

Sony Music Entertainment announced on Saturday that a male employee in his 30s has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Sony Music is investigating the actions of the man and determining who had close contact with him before his diagnosis. Employees who had close contact with him are working from home and monitoring their health. The entire office that the infected employee works in is temporarily closed and being disinfected. The company is monitoring the health of all its employees.

Kojima Productions announced on Monday that a male employee in his 40s has tested positive for COVID-19. The employee has been at home since March 20 and received the results of his COVID-19 PCR test on Monday. Kojima Productions said that public health officials stated it is not mandatory to close the company's office because the diagnosed employee was not in the office at the onset of symptoms, and his fellow employees are not considered close contacts. However, the company independently decided to temporarily close and disinfect its office, have all employees work from home, and supervise and support the health of all staff.

The first reported cases of COVID-19 were in Wuhan, China in December, and then the disease began to spread in varying rates and intensities across many parts of the globe through incubation in human hosts. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a world health emergency on January 30, and announced on March 11 that it is classifying the outbreak as a pandemic. As of Monday, the WHO reported that there are 638,146 infected individuals worldwide. 30,039 individuals have died from the disease.

As of Monday, the WHO reported that Japan has 1,693 cases of COVID-19 with 52 deaths. These numbers do not include the number of cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama. That cruise ship had 712 infected passengers with seven deaths.

Sources: Avex, Sony Music Group, Kojima Productions, Oricon News, Sankei Sports via Otakomu, Hachima Kikō