COVID-19 tracker: Tokyo cases down week-on-week for fourth straight day

Tokyo confirmed 11,765 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, down by some 9,300 from a week before, the metropolitan government said, marking a week-on-week decline for the fourth straight day.

The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms recognized under the metropolitan government’s criteria fell by two from Friday to 62. Seven new COVID-19 fatalities were reported.

In the Kansai region, Osaka Prefecture reported 6,746 new cases and 11 deaths linked to the virus, while neighboring Hyogo Prefecture confirmed 3,259 new infections and 19 fatalities.

In the Kanto area, Kanagawa Prefecture saw 8,040 new cases and five deaths, while Chiba Prefecture reported 4,080 infections and five deaths.

Elsewhere, Aichi Prefecture tallied 5,100 new cases and 13 deaths while Hokkaido saw 3,280 cases and 10 deaths.

Earlier Saturday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that the government is considering easing Japan’s tight entry restrictions for nonresident foreign nationals, with local media reporting that an announcement could be made as early as next week.

On Friday, the cumulative COVID-19 death toll in Japan topped 20,000, with the figure growing in recent weeks amid the sixth wave of infections, driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant, a Kyodo News tally showed.

Japan has seen multiple days of over 100 deaths this year, mostly among the elderly population, with the fast-spreading variant straining the country’s medical system. Over 150 deaths were reported Friday.

According to earlier data from the health ministry, 84% of the deaths were people in their 70s or above. Meanwhile, there were 27 deaths among those in their 20s and four among those age 10 to 19.

Japan confirmed its first death from COVID-19 on Feb. 13, 2020. The nationwide infection tally hit 10,000 on April 26 last year amid the fourth wave of infections.

Deaths attributed to COVID-19 have surpassed 5.79 million worldwide, with the United States being the hardest hit country in the world with just over 915,600 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Japan’s total number of coronavirus infections stands at about 3.68 million cases, giving the country a death rate of about 0.5%.