• Numbers exceed 500 for fifth consecutive day

TOKYO: The number of new COVID-19 infection cases across Japan stood at 676 on Monday, exceeding 500 for the fifth consecutive day.

There was one fatal case. The number of severely ill novel coronavirus patients fell by one from Sunday to 52.

By prefecture, the daily count of new infection cases came to 130 in Okinawa, southernmost Japan, and 103 in Tokyo. The total exceeded 100 for the first time since Sept. 25 in Okinawa and since Oct. 8 in Tokyo.

The number of severely ill patients in the Japanese capital under the metropolitan government’s standards stood at one, unchanged from Sunday.

Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, confirmed its first two cases of the omicron coronavirus variant.

The central Japan prefecture of Gifu reported its first apparent community-acquired omicron cases involving three people in their 20s. Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, also confirmed one community-acquired omicron case.

JIJI Press