A total of 18 trainee doctors at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo, Japan, have tested positive for Covid-19, after one trainee doctor passed on the infection.

40 trainee doctors attended large dinner party

According to the hospital, roughly 40 trainees attended a large dinner party despite repeated calls not to do so, reported Kyodo News.

On March 31, one of the trainee doctors who attended the dinner party tested positive for Covid-19, and subsequent tests found 17 more infections among 99 trainee doctors who might have been in close contact with the first trainee doctor.

Of the 18 residents infected, some did not attend the dinner party, the hospital said.

"This is an intolerable act as persons engaging in medical care who should protect patients. I offer my deep apology," Yuko Kitagawa, head of the hospital, said in a statement.

The 99 trainee doctors have been ordered to stay home for two weeks.

The hospital did not disclose when the trainees gathered for the dinner party.

Japan to declare state of emergency

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to declare a state of emergency on April 7, and will take effect the next day.

The order will cover Tokyo, Osaka and five additional prefectures in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

According to Kyodo News, the emergency declaration will last for approximately one month.

The move will allow prefectural governors to take stronger preventive steps, such as instructing citizens to stay at home, closing schools and other facilities.

However, the declaration will not lead to lockdowns on a scale seen in other countries hit hard by Covid-19, due to the limits of the Japanese law on which the declaration will be based.

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