The mayor of Osaka, Japan has been slammed for his "deplorable" suggestion that men should do the grocery shopping during the coronavirus pandemic because women take too long at a press conference.

Mayor Ichiro Matsui made the suggestion at a coronavirus press conference in Osaka on Thursday (23 April) in response to a reporter asking if shoppers' entry to stores would be reduced in a bid stop the spread of the virus.

Piers Morgan came under fire for this sexist comment to a weather reporter:

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According to CNN, Matsui said: "Women take a longer time grocery shopping because they browse through different products and weigh out which option is best.

"Men quickly grab what they're told to buy so they won't linger at the supermarket - that avoids close contact with others."

"If it was you, if you were told to get this or that, then you would go directly... and go home," he said to the male reporter. "It's also fine for men to go shopping while avoiding contact."

However, when Matsui's idea was slammed by a reporter, he decided against it.

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Japanese journalist Shoko Egawa tweeted to argue that "people who know nothing about daily life shouldn't make comments."

This prompted widespread criticism online with one Twitter user writing: "Japan is a country where these words come calmly out of a mayor's mouth. Deplorable."

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Per Reuters, someone else added: "When I hear remarks like this... I feel the need for people with diverse backgrounds to participate in politics."

World Bank data reports that women make up 51 percent of the Japanese population. But despite this, in the World Economic Forum's index measuring the degree of gender equality, Japan is ranked 110th out of 149 countries.

Per the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, at the time of writing, there have been 2,735,117 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus worldwide, and a global death toll of 2,735,117.

Mayor says men should do grocery shopping because women take too long at coronavirus press conference