TOKYO: The number of cases of the novel coronavirus in Japan rose by 546 to 8,713 on Wednesday.

The new cases included 127 in Tokyo, 74 in the western prefecture of Osaka and 61 in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo. The total number of confirmed cases in Tokyo reached 2,446.

In Tokyo, six people died from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. The first fatal cases were reported in the western prefectures of Shiga, Nara and Kochi. The country's coronavirus death toll rose by 18 to 192.

Infection routes are unknown in 80 of the new cases in Tokyo, according to the metropolitan government.

Three new coronavirus cases were confirmed at Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh Hospital in Sumida Ward, bringing its total case to seven.

In the western city of Hiroshima, 18 new cases were confirmed at the Kenshin Gakuen social welfare facility, bringing the total number of infections there to 40. The new cases involve 11 residents and seven staff members.

A paramedic in his 40s who works at a fire station in Yamatotakada, Nara, tested positive for the virus.

JIJI Press