Japan’s coronavirus cases have topped 100,000, nine months after the first case was found in mid-January, the health ministry said.

The country confirmed 877 new cases on Saturday, bringing the cumulative COVID-19 cases to 101,987, including 712 people who were on a cruise ship that was docked off a Japanese port earlier this year.

Fourteen  fatalities were reported on the day, raising the confirmed death toll to 1,783, with four of which were reported in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan.

In Tokyo, where the daily count has fluctuated between the 100s and 200s, the number of new coronavirus cases on Saturday stood at 215. This is the third successive day that the tally of new cases in the Japanese capital has exceeded  200.

Those in their thirties, made up the largest group of new cases, amounting to 51, followed by 42 in their thirties and 36 in their forties, while people aged 65 or over accounted for 31.

The number of seriously ill patients in Tokyo rose by two from the previous day to 33, the Tokyo metropolitan government said.

Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido newly confirmed 81 cases. Hokkaido raised its warning level this week after finding major clusters in urban entertainment districts.

In Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, 97 new cases were confirmed, marking the first figure at or above 90 since August 21.

The number of new cases amounted to 143 in Osaka, standing above 100 for five successive days.

Experts say Japan has so far managed to avoid “explosive” infections as in Europe and the U.S. without enforcing lockdowns, most likely thanks to the common use of face masks and disinfectant, as well as other common preventive measures including social distancing.

Japan had a nationwide state of emergency in April and May, and experienced a less serious second wave in August, but has since been seeing a slight uptrend in new cases in northern prefectures, setting off concerns of a surge in the winter.

JIJI Press/AP