Japan had a record high of 1,050 COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms on Sunday, up 30 from the previous day, the health ministry said.

The previous record of 1,043 was marked on Jan. 27.

The figure stayed above 1,000 in the second half of January before falling below 400 in March. It started rising again in April.

The country reported 5,900 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing its total above 600,000. There were 61 new deaths.

Osaka Prefecture confirmed 1,057 new cases. The medical system in the western prefecture has been overwhelmed as its hospital beds for severely ill COVID-19 patients have been fully occupied in recent days.

Tokyo reported 879 new cases, its first Sunday above 800 since Jan. 24. Its seven-day average of new cases rose 14.6 pct from a week before to 833.1. The Japanese capital had 63 severely ill patients, unchanged from the previous day.

Hyogo Prefecture, which neighbors Osaka, had 539 new cases and a record high of 95 severely ill patients. Kyoto Prefecture, which also borders Osaka, reported 164 new cases, its second-highest level.

Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, confirmed a record high of 326 new cases, including 246 in its capital, Sapporo. Okayama and Ishikawa prefectures also had record new cases of 114 and 40, respectively.

JIJI Press