Okinawa Prefecture on Saturday reported another record number of COVID-19 cases, confirming 1,759 new infections as the spread of the omicron variant of the virus continues in the southernmost prefecture.
The total bested the record 1,414 cases set a day earlier, while the total number of confirmed infections in the prefecture rose to 55,897 on Saturday.
In addition, the U.S. military informed prefectural authorities that 302 new cases had been confirmed among personnel at bases in Okinawa.
New COVID-19 cases in Tokyo on Saturday were also set to reach a recent high, with TBS reporting that the caseload in the capital would exceed 1,200, the most since Sept. 11.
Also Saturday, Hiroshima Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki announced the prefecture had logged a record 537 cases.
On Friday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration put Okinawa, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures under a quasi-state of emergency after consulting with experts amid an “explosive” rise in new COVID-19 cases spurred by the omicron variant.
U.S. military personnel are believed to have triggered a coronavirus resurgence in the three prefectures. Many people in the three prefectures live in close proximity to American bases. Infection prevention measures taken by the U.S. forces, which some have criticized as being too lax, are thought to be behind that explosion of cases.
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