Japan Reports Another Record High of Over 22,000 New COVID-19 Cases

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] Japan's new COVID-19 cases have once again reached a record high.

On the 18th, the newly confirmed COVID-19 infections across Japan exceeded 22,000, including 5,386 cases in Tokyo, setting an all-time high. Previously, the highest number of new cases in Japan was recorded on the 13th with over 20,300 cases.

The number of severe patients receiving ventilator treatment reached 1,716, breaking the record for the sixth consecutive day.

The day before, the Japanese government decided to extend the state of emergency, which had been declared until the end of this month in six metropolitan areas including Tokyo, until the 12th of next month due to the worsening COVID-19 situation. Additionally, seven regions including Shizuoka Prefecture were added to the state of emergency, strengthening special quarantine measures.

The Japanese government and local authorities are putting all their efforts into vaccination to curb the surge in COVID-19 cases. Currently, about 64 million people in Japan have received the first dose, exceeding 50% of the total population. The rate of those who have completed the second dose is approaching 40%.

The Japanese government expects the spread of infection to weaken once about half of the entire population completes the second dose by the end of this month.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met with Masakazu Tokura, chairman of Japan's largest economic organization Keidanren, and requested cooperation in infection prevention measures promoted by the government, such as reducing the floating population. Prime Minister Suga said that telework, which is effective in preventing COVID-19 infection, may be difficult depending on the industry, but asked that telework be implemented as much as possible.

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