TOKYO: The number of new cases of novel coronavirus infection confirmed across Japan on Monday stood at 4,875, slipping below 5,000 for the first time in six days.

But the figure was the highest for any Monday, exceeding the 3,322 marked on Jan. 4.

The number of severely ill patients increased 12 from the previous day to hit a record high of 864.

Forty-eight deaths linked to the new coronavirus were reported nationwide, including seven in Osaka Prefecture and five in Hokkaido.

In Tokyo, 1,219 new infection cases were confirmed, the highest total for a Monday, topping the 884 set on Jan. 4.

The daily total in the Japanese capital topped 1,000 for the seventh consecutive day.

The number of seriously ill patients under Tokyo’s standards hit a record high of 131, up three from the previous day.

Patients aged 65 or older, who are at high risk of developing severe symptoms, stood at 151.

Elsewhere in Japan, the number of new cases stood at 480 in Osaka Prefecture, 154 in Hyogo Prefecture and 142 in Kyoto Prefecture. The central government is planning to expand soon the coronavirus state of emergency to cover the three western prefectures.

The number totaled 198 in Aichi Prefecture and 50 in Gifu Prefecture. The two central prefectures plan to ask the government as early as Tuesday to put them under the emergency.

Currently, the state of emergency covers Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.

In Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, 10 prefectural government personnel in their 30s to 50s tested positive for the coronavirus. The cases were regarded as an infection cluster, the first of its kind in the prefectural government.

JIJI Press