SAPPORO: The northern Japan prefecture of Hokkaido is expected to report over 200 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, prefectural government officials said.

The daily number of new coronavirus cases in Hokkaido will exceed the 200 threshold for the first time.

In the week through Sunday, 816 people were newly confirmed as positive for the coronavirus in the prefecture. The weekly total more than doubled from the previous week.

Infections are spreading mainly in the Susukino nightlife district in Sapporo, the prefecture’s capital.

On Saturday, the Hokkaido government raised its own coronavirus alert, and decided to request nightclubs in Susukino to close from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and bars and restaurants to refrain from serving alcoholic drinks in the same hours.

“We have to win this fight to protect the health and lives of people in Hokkaido,” Governor Naomichi Suzuki told a press conference on Saturday.

“We’ve entered a very tough stage of the epidemic,” Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto said. “We aim to curb infections within November.”

JIJI Press