Tokyo is taking new steps to tamp down on public drinking in the streets to reduce the novel coronavirus’ spread, a move that comes just ahead of an expected third state of emergency.

Metropolitan and ward government officials, together with police officers and fire department staff, will start patrolling streets in the capital’s Kabukicho district starting at 8:30 p.m. on April 23 to discourage street drinking, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said.

“Curbing street drinking will lead to infection prevention,” Koike said at a news conference earlier in the day. “I want to strengthen measures mainly in nightlife districts.”

Drinking on the street has become rife in nightlife districts and urban parks as bars and restaurants close early to comply with requests by local governments to help contain the virus’ spread.

Health experts warn that just because people are taking their partying outside does not mean that they are safe.

But outdoor drinking parties are expected to soon become even more rampant under the coming state of emergency, expected to be issued to Tokyo and Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures for a 17-day period that will include the Golden Week holidays.

NIGHT PARTYING SEEN AROUND TOKYO

At 8 p.m. on April 22, a 44-year-old company employee washed down some fried chicken he bought at a convenience store with a can of lemon sour.

He was one of about 10 men in business suits out partying, gathered around a steam locomotive statue in a square in front of JR Shinbashi Station in Tokyo’s Minato Ward.

“Alcohol is the most convenient way to immediately free myself from the strain of work,” said the man, who lives in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward. “The place I used to go to for drinks now closes around this time, so this is the only place that (I can drink).”

It was not their first station-square party. The group started having their get-togethers here three months ago, when the second state of emergency was issued in Tokyo and eateries closed early.

Half an hour later that evening at Sakurada Park, not far from the station, about 20 company employees and others were out partying, holding cans of beer.

They were divided into several groups and sat around the park entrance.

A company employee, 27, who lives in Toshima Ward, came to the park with an acquaintance. The two men sat on a fence that separates a path and bushes to drink some canned beer together.

They came to the park because the nearby eateries were either closed or full, he said.

“Nothing is open at night. And I find ‘online drinking parties’ to be hollow after all,” he said. “Drinking on the street is where it’s at now because it’s getting warm.”

SAFER IN TYPHOON-LIKE WINDS

The health ministry has urged the public to stay away from situations with the “three Cs"--confined spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places and close-contact settings such as conversations at close range.

Drinking on the street does not fall into the first category. However, a situation with only two Cs is not absent of risk.

“People should be aware that it still poses a risk,” said Koji Wada, a public health professor at the International University of Health and Welfare.

Whether it is inside or outdoors, people tend to take off their masks without keeping a safe distance once they start drinking alcohol.

Moreover, people tend to speak louder when they are outside.

The third state of emergency is expected to take effect on April 25 and eateries that serve alcohol are likely to be ordered to shut down.

Wada is worried that this will “further increase street drinking.”

Akiyoshi Iida, a professor of fluid mechanics at Toyohashi University of Technology, used the world’s fastest supercomputer, Fugaku, last fall to calculate the amount of airborne droplets people produce and how they spread during conversations and through other behavior.

Whether talking while close together or out drinking on the street, he said the risk of spreading the virus remains the same “unless a typhoon-like wind is blowing.”

When people have conversations outside, droplets travel 1.5 meters, he said.

According to Fugaku, they can sometimes travel 1.7 meters, he said.

But wearing a fitted mask that properly covers the mouth is effective at preventing droplets from spreading, he said. In that case, the droplets decrease and they cannot travel as far, Iida said.

“Drinking outdoors does not guarantee safety,” he said. “The best way (to be safe) is to stay home and spend time quietly.”

Yasutoshi Nishimura, the state minister in charge of economic revitalization who is heading the central government’s efforts to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic, said at a meeting with experts on April 23 that he wants to “thoroughly promote awareness about high-risk behavior, such as group drinking on the streets and in parks.”

(This article was written by Keita Yamaguchi and Takaaki Fujino.)