TOKYO: Japan confirmed 16,739 new cases of novel coronavirus infection on Friday, down by about 30 pct from 24,193 a week before to stay below 20,000 for the second straight day.

The number of severely ill COVID-19 patients grew by 63 from a day before to 2,221, hitting a record high for the second straight day, while 63 deaths were confirmed among coronavirus sufferers.

In Tokyo, there were 2,539 new infection cases, down by 1,688 from a week before.

The Japanese capital marked the 12th consecutive day of a week-on-week drop in newly confirmed infection cases.

Of the new cases in Tokyo, those in their 20s made up the largest group, at 666, followed by those in their 30s, at 474, and those in their 40s, at 405. New cases came to 513 among people aged 19 or under and 146 among those aged 65 or over.

The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms, measured under the Tokyo government’s standards, fell by 13 from Thursday to 278. The seven-day average of daily new cases in Tokyo came to 2,898.9 as of Friday, down 30.7 pct from a week before.

According to the health ministry, 135,674 COVID-19 sufferers were isolating at home as of midnight Tuesday. Tokyo had the largest number of such sufferers, at 19,765, followed by Osaka Prefecture, at 17,723, and Aichi Prefecture, at 16,058.

JIJI Press