Tokyo: The average number of new COVID-19 cases reported by medical institutions in Japan came to 11.04 in the week through Sunday, up 1.2-fold from the previous week, the health ministry said Friday.

The ministry said that a total of 54,150 new cases were found at some 5,000 regularly monitored hospitals across the nation.

Forty-three prefectures saw their infection cases increase, while Okinawa and Aomori prefectures logged decreases for two weeks in a row.

Average infection cases rose above 10 in 30 of Japan’s 47 prefectures. The southern prefecture of Okinawa topped the list with 31.83, followed by Saga in southwestern Japan with 23.05, Miyazaki with 20.79 and Kagoshima with 19.08.

All prefectures in western Japan except Shimane and Okayama marked double-digit averages in the reporting week.

The total number of newly hospitalized COVID-19 patients nationwide was up 632 at 6,952.

JIJI Press