TOKYO – On Thursday, the Tokyo city government reported a record 286 new cases of coronavirus, the highest number of new cases recorded in a day in the Japanese capital since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
As a result, the city government raised its coronavirus alert to “red,” the highest of four levels, Wednesday night amid fears of a second wave of infections. The previous daily maximum was 243 cases, registered on July 10, according to the city government. bill.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike described the situation as “quite severe.” She also urged the Japanese government to reconsider the timing of its “Go To” campaign to boost domestic tourism, which will launch next week, pleading with people not to travel outside of Tokyo unless necessary.
Japanese Cabinet Chief Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday that 80 percent of new cases in Tokyo are from people under the age of 39.
“I understand that it is not leading to a collapse of the medical system,” he added.
In total, 8,354 cases of coronavirus have been registered in the capital as of Wednesday, according to the local government. Of these, 721 were hospitalized and eight are seriously ill.
Emergency measures to stop the virus were lifted in May when infections fell in Japan, but people are still being asked to wear masks in public, maintain social distance, wash their hands, and avoid crowded places without ventilation. adequate.
Japan has managed to largely overcome the outbreak with 22,890 recorded cases and 985 deaths to date, a considerably lower figure than many countries in Europe. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, more than 13.5 million cases worldwide have been confirmed with the virus claiming more than 580,000 lives.
The news of the record came a day after the International Olympic Committee said it did not want next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo to be held behind closed doors. Committee chairman Thomas Bach said they are working in “multiple scenarios” based on advice from the World Health Organization.
The Tokyo Olympics were supposed to take place this summer, but were postponed until 2021 due to the pandemic.
The organizing committee is expected to provide an update on how the games will move to the new date on Friday.
If a vaccine is not found until next summer, the Olympic Committee may have, once again, to consider postponing or completely canceling the Tokyo Olympics, though Japanese authorities in April have signaled that the games will be phased out if they cannot take place in 2021.
Longtime Olympic Committee member Dick Pound also said on Wednesday that if the postponed Tokyo Olympics will not take place next year, the 2022 Winter Games in the Chinese capital Beijing will also be victims. of the pandemic, Reuters reported.
The Winter Games are scheduled for February 2022, just six months after the postponed Tokyo Games.
Mai Nishiyama reported from Tokyo. Yuliya Talmazan from London.
Segilola Arisekola contributed
