TOKYO: The novel coronavirus infection cases newly confirmed in Japan totaled 896 on Wednesday, with the daily count standing below 1,000 for five days in a row.

In Tokyo, 236 cases were newly confirmed. The daily number rose above 200 for the first time in three days. Those in their 20s and 30s made up about half of all the day’s total, while untraceable cases came to 144.

The number of severely ill patients in the Japanese capital dropped by three from Tuesday to 31. The Tokyo metropolitan government disclosed the age groups and genders of the severely ill patients for the first time. Twenty-seven of them are male and four female. The 31 people are in their 40s to 80s, including 14 in their 70s.

In Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, four customers of an eating and drinking facility with hospitality services in the city of Sanyoonoda tested positive for the virus. Fourteen customers and workers of the establishment have been confirmed infected since Aug. 19. The Yamaguchi prefectural government determined that this is the first infection cluster of the virus in the prefecture.

The national death toll linked to the virus grew by 13 to 1,243. Of the new fatalities, two each were reported in Tokyo, and Osaka, Nara and Kagoshima prefectures, and one each in Chiba, Kanagawa, Hyogo, Fukuoka and Okinawa prefectures.

JIJI Press