TOKYO: Japan confirmed 4,380 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

The number of severely ill patients stood at 1,098, down by 16 from Wednesday, when the country had a record number of such patients.

Sixty-five deaths linked to COVID-19 were recorded, including 28 in the western prefecture of Osaka.

In Tokyo, 591 cases were newly confirmed, the first below 600 since April 26. The seven-day average of new cases fell 5.8 pct from a week before to 736.6.

The number of new cases in the capital was relatively low apparently because of a drop in testing during the Golden Week holiday period.

Tokyo saw its number of severely ill patients climb by three to 72.

Osaka recognized 747 new cases, the fourth consecutive day below 1,000. Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, confirmed its record-tying 114 new cases. Hiroshima Prefecture, an Okayama neighbor, had 121 new cases, the highest since Jan. 8.

The northern city of Sapporo had a record 251 new cases.

JIJI Press