Tokyo reported 4,295 COVID-19 cases Sunday, a record high for a Sunday, adding to pressure on the government to expand the state of emergency that currently covers the capital, Osaka and some other prefectures.
The number of severely ill COVID-19 patients hit a record high of 251. The metropolitan government also reported three deaths linked to the new coronavirus.
The seven-day average of new infections in the capital came to 4,263.9, up from 4,037 a week before, according to the metropolitan government, while the number of severely ill patients in the capital rose by six from Saturday.
Elsewhere, Okinawa Prefecture reported 661 cases, a record high for a Sunday, and Aichi Prefecture confirmed 609 cases. Hyogo Prefecture logged 517 cases and Hokkaido saw 366 cases.
The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms across the country totaled 1,563 as of Saturday, up 42 from the previous day and hitting a record high for the third straight day, the health ministry said.
The country’s daily coronavirus infections topped 20,000 for the second straight day Saturday. A total of 12 prefectures reported record daily infections, including 2,356 in Kanagawa and 1,828 in Osaka.
With the novel coronavirus spreading rapidly and showing no signs of abating, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga plans to hold talks with relevant ministers next week on expanding the state of emergency, which has been issued in Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, Osaka and Okinawa prefectures.
The alarming rise in infection cases due to the spread of the virus’s highly contagious delta variant has raised concern about a possible collapse of the country’s medical system as patients fill up hospital beds in many prefectures.
Infectious disease experts have called for foot traffic in Tokyo to be cut by half from the level in early July, prior to the imposition of the current state of emergency in the capital, through measures such as limiting the number of visitors to underground food sections at department stores and shopping malls.
In the prefectures under the state of emergency, restaurants and bars serving alcohol or offering karaoke are already asked to shut during the period, while those not serving liquor are requested to close at 8 p.m.
Suga has also been calling on residents to refrain from traveling or returning to their hometowns during the summer vacation period and avoid nonessential and nonurgent outings to curb the spread of the virus.
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