The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Thursday raised its COVID-19 alert on medical care availability to the highest level of its four-tier system as the omicron-induced surge continued across the country.
The alert was raised to the highest level — meaning the health system is “under strain” — for the first time in about four months.
The capital reported 20,679 new cases Thursday, near the record high 21,576 cases reported a day earlier, along with four deaths.
Osaka Prefecture saw a record 19,615 new infections, including 13 deaths. Osaka has now logged a total of 50 deaths over the past three days.
Record high case numbers were reported in Hokkaido, which saw 3,788 new infections and two deaths.
Okinawa Prefecture, meanwhile, continued to see a downward trend in its numbers, with the prefecture reporting 652 cases on Thursday, down from 1,100 a week ago.
The occupancy rate of hospital beds in Tokyo for COVID-19 patients stood at 53.1% on Thursday, while the rate for beds set aside for severe cases stood at 7.3%
The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms under Tokyo’s criteria increased by eight from Wednesday to 38.
The seven-day average of new cases came to 17,058.6, compared to 11,762 a week earlier.
On Thursday, the metropolitan government also decided on new indicators for judging whether to request a full state of emergency.
Under the new guideline, a state of emergency will be considered when hospital bed occupancy rate for severe patients or the ratio of severe patients who require oxygen administration reach between 30% and 40%, as well as when the seven-day average of new cases reaches 24,000.
The daily number of new coronavirus cases in Japan came to 94,909 on Wednesday, exceeding 90,000 for the first time.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
