TOKYO: Japan’s daily count of new coronavirus cases stood at 22,045 on Friday, exceeding 20,000 for the first time since Sept. 1 last year.

Daily new cases hit record highs in prefectures including Nagano, Kyoto, Ehime and Kumamoto.

The country’s daily count surpassed 10,000 only on Wednesday. It peaked at 25,990 on Aug. 20 last year during the fifth wave of infections.

On Friday, 10 new COVID-19 deaths were recorded in Japan. The number of patients with severe symptoms rose by 96 from Thursday to 221.

Tokyo reported 4,051 new cases, the first figure above 4,000 since Aug. 27 last year. Friday’s total almost quadrupled from a week before. One new COVID-19 death was reported in the Japanese capital.

In Tokyo, people in their 20s accounted for the largest portion of the new cases by age group, at 1,474. Some 70 pct of Friday’s total were people aged 39 or under. The number of very ill patients fell by one from Thursday to three.

JIJI Press