TOKYO: The number of new cases of novel coronavirus infection confirmed in Japan on Monday stood at 2,907.

The country’s new COVID-19 fatalities totaled 30, including five in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo. The number of coronavirus patients with severe symptoms rose by 15 from Sunday to 738, the health ministry said.

On Monday, the Osaka prefectural government reported 719 new infection cases, marking a record high for a Monday in the western Japan prefecture. The latest tally was up from 602 cases a week before.

The number of severely ill coronavirus patients in Osaka rose by 32 to 302, topping 300 for the first time ever, the prefectural government said. The number is far more than the total of 224 beds that the prefectural government plans to secure for COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms.

“The local medical system is in an extremely severe situation,” Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said. “We need a state of emergency with measures that are strong enough to stop the flows of people completely for a while,” he said.

Yoshimura said that the prefecture plans to formally ask the Japanese government to declare a fresh state of emergency over the coronavirus at a meeting of its coronavirus response headquarters on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Tokyo confirmed 405 new infection cases, the first count above 400 for a Monday since Jan. 25. The seven-day average of new coronavirus cases in the Japanese capital stood at 600.6, up 26.1 pct from a week ago, the Tokyo metropolitan government said.

People aged 65 or over, who are at high risk of developing severe symptoms, accounted for 52 of the new cases in Tokyo on Monday.

The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms under the Tokyo government’s standards rose by two from Sunday to 47.

JIJI Press