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New COVID-19 cases top 45,000 in Japan, nearly double from last week
Higher case counts were reported in all of the 47 prefectures in the country, with cases more than doubling in Tokyo and Osaka and Kanagawa prefectures compared with the week before.
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Commuters wear masks at a train station in Tokyo on July 28, 2021, a day after the city reported a record 2,848 new daily cases of Covid-19 coronavirus.
(AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
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ewly confirmed COVID-19 cases nearly doubled from a week earlier to over 45,000 in Japan on Wednesday, exceeding the 40,000 mark for the first time since May 18 as the nation's coronavirus infections continue to rebound.
Higher case counts were reported in all of the 47 prefectures in the country, with cases more than doubling in Tokyo and Osaka and Kanagawa prefectures compared with the week before.
In Tokyo, 8,341 new cases were recorded, according to the metropolitan government. The capital confirmed 5,302 new cases on Tuesday.
The seven-day rolling average of new cases in Tokyo stood at 4,426.6 per day, up 86.8 percent from the previous week.
In Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan, 2,366 new cases were confirmed, prompting the prefectural government to issue an alert and ask residents to take anti-virus measures.
A weekly national tally of coronavirus infections rebounded at the end of June. Newly confirmed cases exceeded 30,000 on Tuesday, with a new Omicron subvariant known as BA.5 now comprising an increasing number of new daily cases.
Following the upward trend of the virus, the health ministry on Tuesday asked prefectural governments in writing to examine and strengthen medical infrastructure under their jurisdiction, including preparing enough bed space for older patients.
The ministry called attention to the need for hospitals to find a good balance between COVID-19 treatment and emergency medical care given an increase in the number of heatstroke patients brought in for emergency care.
The rebound in virus cases can also lead to a rapid increase in the number of patients staying at home while waiting to recover.
The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was planning to roll out a nationwide travel subsidy program sometime during the first half of July but now plans to postpone it, a government source said Wednesday.
The government plans to carefully watch the infection situation and make a decision next week after Sunday's House of Councillors election, the source said.
The new subsidy campaign would be a nationwide version of subsidy programs currently implemented at the prefectural level to encourage local travel among residents.
