TOKYO: Japan confirmed 4,687 new cases of novel coronavirus infection on Friday, with the daily count falling below 5,000 for the first time in three days.

A total of 39 deaths linked to COVID-19 were reported on the day, including eight in the western prefecture of Osaka. The number of severely ill coronavirus patients stood at 978, up by 27 from the previous day, according to the health ministry.

In Tokyo, the metropolitan government reported 698 new coronavirus cases on Friday, a day after it confirmed 1,027 new cases, the first daily figure above 1,000 in the Japanese capital in about three months.

Tokyo’s daily coronavirus tally dropped from a week earlier for the first time since March 31. Its seven-day average of new cases stood at 773.4 as of Friday, up 10.9 pct the week-before level of 697.3.

Under the metropolitan government’s criteria, the number of people severely ill with the coronavirus stood at 65, up by seven from Thursday.

The daily infection count in Osaka came to 1,043, surpassing 1,000 for the fourth straight day, but smaller than 1,162 a week ago.

JIJI Press