If you think you’re having a bad day at work, it can’t have been worse than this airport worker in Japan.

The quarantine station at Narita airport has been temporarily closed, as one of the airport workers accidentally dropped a glass tube containing a coronavirus reagent. Reports say that the worker dropped the tube earlier this month, contaminating the whole room. 

Members of staff who had been working in the room were all tested for the coronavirus, and two of them appeared to test positive. But on further investigation, it was discovered that they were in fact not infected, but the reagent had just got stuck to the inside of their nose, and they were discharged from hospital. While you can’t actually catch the coronavirus from reagents, people who have come into contact with them may appear to test positive, so the quarantine station has been shut down to avoid any more inaccurate test results.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare commented “We are in the process of removing the reagents. We will work to improve our safety management in the future.”

Japanese netizens were both amused and sympathetic for the airport worker’s blunder.

“This sounds like the beginning to a zombie movie!”
“Seems like an easy enough mistake to make. They should make the glass tubes stronger.”
“People are only human. We all drop things sometimes. We should forgive them.”
“Everyone makes mistakes! There’s always tomorrow!”
“This is so unbelievable, you wouldn’t even see it in the movies!”

It’s not unheard of for mistakes to happen during airport inspections, but a worker for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare commented, “This is the first time I’ve heard of something like this happening in a quarantine.” And while the Narita airport quarantine station has been temporarily closed, there are quarantine stations in nearby Yokohama.

Stay safe out there, readers! If you are still going to work, we hope your day is going better than this person’s. And if you’re stuck at home social distancing, here are some ways to keep yourself entertained.

Source: Mainichi News via Kinisoku
Image: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!