Japan's COVID-19 Cumulative Cases Soon to Surpass 200,000

Despite the Spread of COVID-19, Foot Traffic Actually Increases

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The cumulative number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Japan is expected to exceed 200,000. This is due to the recent trend of increases in the high 2,000s.

Scenery of Ginza, Tokyo, Japan on the 19th
[Image source=Reuters News Agency]

According to Japan's NHK broadcast on the 20th, the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan the previous day was 2,991. Among them, 736 cases occurred in Tokyo alone. Including 712 passengers of the cruise ship "Diamond Princess," which experienced a cluster infection while docked at Yokohama Port in February this year, the cumulative number of confirmed cases is 199,464.

Accordingly, reaching 200,000 confirmed cases is only a matter of time.

The number of deaths is also rapidly increasing. The cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths rose by 40 from the previous day to 2,894. The average daily number of deaths over the past week is 41. This is four times higher than the level in the second week of November this year, when this outbreak began.

Despite the spread of COVID-19, the floating population within Japan has actually increased. According to an analysis based on smartphone location data by the telecommunications company NTT Docomo, among 94 major locations, 54 showed a higher population compared to the previous week.

Amid the year-end and New Year atmosphere, many crowds are pouring onto the streets. The Kansai Regional Union, composed of eight metropolitan governments in the Kansai region including Osaka and Kyoto, has adopted an emergency declaration asking people to refrain from returning home and year-end parties during the year-end and New Year period.

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