Japan's New COVID-19 Cases Exceed 500 for the First Time in Three Months

Tokyo Records Highest Number of New COVID-19 Cases

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] The number of new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Japan has exceeded 500 for the first time in about three months.

According to NHK's tally, as of 6:30 p.m. on the 16th, a total of 578 new infections were reported nationwide from 30 metropolitan governments and airport quarantine stations, including 286 in Tokyo and 66 in Osaka. This is the first time in 89 days since April 18, during the state of emergency period, that Japan's daily new confirmed cases have exceeded 500 (589 cases).

The number of new confirmed cases in Tokyo, the area where the infection is spreading, set a new record on this day. Over the past week up to this day, Tokyo has reported about 1,360 COVID-19 cases.

Japan's cumulative number of confirmed cases reached 24,325, with a total of 998 deaths.

The Japanese government lifted the first state of emergency for COVID-19 response on May 25. After the state of emergency was lifted, Japan's daily new confirmed cases once dropped to the 20-30 range but surged again after rising to the 100s in early this month.

The Japanese government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government explain that the recent increase in confirmed cases is due to the increased number of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. As of the 12th, the daily number of PCR tests in Japan was 5,012.

However, the Japanese government has ruled out the possibility of declaring a second state of emergency due to the rapid increase in new confirmed cases. At a press conference in the afternoon, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government spokesperson, responded to a question about the possibility of declaring a state of emergency by saying, "Although the number of hospitalized patients is increasing, we recognize that the medical system is not under pressure," and expressed a negative view, stating that "we need to comprehensively assess (factors other than the number of new confirmed cases)."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.