TOKYO: A total of 206,495 people were newly confirmed as positive for COVID-19 in Japan on Sunday, down by 8,761 people from a week earlier but still more than 200,000 for the sixth straight day.

Across the country, 551 COVID-19 patients reportedly had severe symptoms, down by 16 from the previous day, and 152 new deaths were found among patients.

In Tokyo, the metropolitan government said that 26,313 people newly tested positive, down by 5,228 from a week before. The seven-day moving average of new infections fell 1.4 pct to 31,732.7, down for the first time since June 19.

The Japanese capital logged 12 new COVID-19 fatalities, while the number of patients with severe symptoms under its criteria stood at 36, down by one from the previous day.

Elsewhere in the country, the daily number of new infections hit a record high each in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima and the western prefectures of Hiroshima and Tokushima.

The daily count stood at 18,309 in the western prefecture of Osaka, 13,212 in the central prefecture of Aichi and 13,008 in the eastern prefecture of Saitama.

JIJI Press