TOKYO: The daily number of new coronavirus cases in Japan exceeded 100,000 for the first time on Thursday, pushing the country’s cumulative total of COVID-19 cases above the three million line.

The number of daily COVID-19 cases totaled 104,470 on the same day.

Japan’s cumulative count exceeded one million in August last year and rose above the two-million mark about five months later, on Jan. 20 this year. Coronavirus cases increased by another million in just two weeks, reflecting the rapid spread of the omicron variant.

The number of severely ill coronavirus patients nationwide rose 25 from Wednesday to 911 on Thursday, surpassing 900 for the first time since Sept. 30 last year.

The number of deaths among COVID-19 patients across Japan totaled 90.

In Tokyo, 20,679 new positive cases were confirmed on Thursday. Its daily count topped 20,000 for the second straight day.

According to the metropolitan government, the occupancy rate for hospital beds for COVID-19 patients rose 1.7 percentage points from Wednesday to 53.1 pct. The rate for beds for patients with severe symptoms went up 1.8 points to 7.3 pct.

The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms under Tokyo’s criteria stood at 30, up by eight from Wednesday.

On Thursday, the western prefecture of Osaka reported a record 19,615 new coronavirus cases, including 7,625 cases that had not been counted in the past.

JIJI Press