Tokyo reported 5,074 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, topping the 5,000 mark for the fourth straight day.
The number of severely ill patients under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s criteria fell by three to 270. The metropolitan government also reported six deaths linked to the coronavirus.
Elsewhere, Hyogo reported 1,025 cases, Hokkaido saw 579 infections and Okinawa confirmed 678 cases. Records were set in Gunma, with 325 cases, Mie, with 427 infections, and Kochi, which saw 87 cases.
The rampant spread of COVID-19 in Tokyo, which saw 5,094 cases a week ago, has reached disaster level, experts said Friday, warning of the possibility that many cases have not been detected.
Medical care systems in the capital will collapse if infections continue to spiral out of control, the experts said at a metropolitan government meeting on the COVID-19 situation.
The daily number of PCR and other tests conducted to detect the coronavirus is as low as around 13,000, although the metropolitan government claims that it is capable of testing 97,000 people a day.
It’s possible that people who need to get tested can’t do so swiftly, said Masataka Inokuchi, deputy chief of the Tokyo Medical Association.
“There might be many cases that have not been detected,” Inokuchi said, calling on the metropolitan government to test more people.
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