TOKYO: The number of people who were confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus in Japan came to 78,127 on Sunday, up about 50 percent from a week before.

Seriously ill coronavirus patients numbered 767, up by 33 from Saturday, while 31 people with COVID-19 were confirmed dead on Sunday.

Daily infection cases hit a record high in five prefectures–Yamagata in northeastern Japan, Ibaraki, Saitama and Chiba in eastern Japan, and Okayama in western Japan. The southernmost prefecture of Okinawa found 838 new cases, down by 118 from a week before. Its daily tally fell week on week for the sixth straight day.

Tokyo reported 15,895 new cases on Sunday, with its daily count topping 10,000 for six consecutive days. The figure was highest for a Sunday, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government.

The occupancy rate for hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in the Japanese capital came to 48.5 pct, coming close to the threshold of 50 pct for the Tokyo government to ask the central government for the declaration of a state of emergency.

Of the people confirmed with the virus Sunday, those in their 20s accounted for 3,307, while 2,774 are in their 30s, 2,516 in their 40s and 2,244 aged under 10.

The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms measured under Tokyo’s criteria stood at 23, up by one from Saturday.

JIJI Press