TOKYO: Japan confirmed 731 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, including 203 in Tokyo.

The country’s coronavirus death toll rose by four to 1,727.

Tokyo’s daily count of new coronavirus cases exceeded 200 for the first time in a week.

In the Japanese capital, people in their 20s made up the largest group of the new cases, totaling 61, followed by 40 people in their 30s. Newly infected people aged 65 or older came to 26.

The number of severely ill patients in Tokyo stood at 25, up by two from the previous day.

Seventeen members of Hosei University’s soccer team and a member of the team’s staff tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, according to the Tokyo government and the university.

The northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido reported 60 new infection cases, with the daily count hitting a record high for the second straight day. Cluster infections occurred at two restaurants with hospitality services in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido.

At a hospital in Suma Ward in the western Japan city of Kobe, 38 people, including hospitalized patients, were newly found infected with the coronavirus.

JIJI Press