The mayor of Osaka came under fire on social media after saying women take longer than men shopping for groceries as he tried to promote social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the city.

“When a woman goes [...] it will take time,” Mayor Ichiro Matsui said when asked by a male reporter about possibly reducing shoppers' entry to supermarkets to lower the risk of coronavirus infections.

“If it was you, if you were told to get this or that, then you would go directly [...] and go home,” he said.