COVID-19 tracker: Daily cases in Osaka set to top 2,000 for first time

Osaka Prefecture was expected to report around 2,300 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, with the daily tally topping 2,000 for the first time, sources said, as a raft of prefectures reported record numbers.

The daily figure in the western prefecture was set to post a record high for the second straight day after it reported 1,856 infections Tuesday.

Neighboring Hyogo Prefecture, meanwhile, confirmed 1,088 cases the same day and Aichi Prefecture 1,227 cases, both record highs and topping 1,000 for the first time. Fukuoka Prefecture said it is set to post 1,253 cases, also its most ever.

Tokyo reported it’s second highest daily tally yet on Wednesday — 5,381 cases — up from the 4,377 reported a day earlier. The number of seriously ill patients under the metropolitan government’s criteria declined by one from Tuesday to 275.

The seven-day average of daily new infection cases in the capital was 4,696.6, up from 3,983.6 a week before. The metropolitan government also reported six deaths linked to the coronavirus.

The metropolitan government also said a woman in her 40s, who had been infected with COVID-19, died while recuperating at home with her husband and child who had also contracted the disease, NHK reported.

The metropolitan government has confirmed that seven people have died while recuperating at home in the capital during the fifth wave of infections, the public broadcaster said.

Elsewhere Wednesday, Okinawa Prefecture saw 761 cases, a record high, while Hokkaido reported 595 infections.

On Tuesday, infections across the country surged, as caseloads hit record highs in 18 of Japan’s 47 prefectures.

Gifu reported a record 324 new cases, more than double its previous high marked on May 14, while Aichi saw 967 infections, topping 900 for the first time.

Across the country, 19,954 new cases were confirmed and 47 new deaths linked to the virus were reported.