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Japan’s cumulative COVID-19 cases top 10 million

People wearing face masks walk underground near a train station in Tokyo, Thursday, July 14, 2022. (AP)
People wearing face masks walk underground near a train station in Tokyo, Thursday, July 14, 2022. (AP)
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14 Jul 2022 10:07:57 GMT9
14 Jul 2022 10:07:57 GMT9

TOKYO: The cumulative number of novel coronavirus infection cases confirmed in Japan topped 10 million on Thursday, about two and a half years after the country logged its first case.

The cumulative figure now stands at 10,015,739, including 97,788 new cases found on the day. The figure suggests that one in 12 people in Japan have been infected with the virus.

Japan appears to be engulfed in its seventh biggest wave of infections due to the spread of the BA.5 omicron coronavirus variant. On Thursday, daily new cases hit a record high in nine of the country’s 47 prefectures, including Shizuoka, Fukuoka and Chiba.

But the number of severely ill COVID-19 patients, which rose by 10 from Wednesday to 100 on Thursday, is far lower than the sixth-wave peak above 1,500.

The first COVID-19 case in the country was reported in January 2020, and cumulative cases topped 1 million in August 2021.

As the country was experiencing the sixth wave of infections earlier this year, the cumulative number reached 2 million on Jan. 20, 5 million on Feb. 28 and 6 million on March 18. It has since been increasing at a pace of 1 million per month.

The daily number of new infections, meanwhile, had been on a declining trend since Feb. 5 this year but turned higher in the latter half of June. On Thursday, the daily count marked week-on-week growth for the 24th consecutive day.

The latest growth has been attributed to the spread of the BA.5 variant, seen as more infectious than the conventional omicron strain. An expert panel of the health ministry said at a meeting Wednesday that the BA. 5 variant is forecast to account for 100 pct of all new COVID-19 cases in Japan in early August.

The total number of COVID-19 deaths in Japan stood at 31,547 on Thursday, up by 33 from the previous day. According to the health ministry, 62.7 pct of the deceased as of July 6 were in their 80s or older, followed by 21 pct in their 70s and 7.2 pct in their 60s.

The COVID-19 mortality rate came to 5.9 pct among people aged 80 or over, or 8.2 pct for men and 4.6 pct for women in the age group. The rate stood below 1 pct for those in their 60s or younger.

The daily count of new COVID-19 fatalities has numbered around 10-40 so far this month.

JIJI Press

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