Officials in Tokyo alarmed as cases hit record highs

TOKYO – Japanese officials sounded the alarm Thursday aft Tokyo reported record-breaking coronavirus cases for 2 consecutive days with the Olympics good underway.

“We person ne'er experienced the enlargement of the infections of this magnitude,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters. He said the caller cases were soaring not lone successful the Tokyo country but crossed the country.

Tokyo reported 3,177 caller cases connected Wednesday, up from 2,848 connected Tuesday, mounting an all-time precocious and exceeding 3,000 for the archetypal time.

Japan has kept its cases and deaths little than galore different countries, but its seven-day rolling mean is increasing and present stands astatine 28 per 100,000 radical nationwide and 88 successful Tokyo, according to the Health Ministry. This compares to 18.5 successful the United States, 48 successful Britain and 2.8 successful India, according to information from Johns Hopkins University.

“While astir thing is helping to dilatory the infections, determination are galore factors that tin accelerate them,” said Dr. Shigeru Omi, a apical authorities aesculapian adviser, noting the Olympics and summertime vacation. “The biggest hazard is the deficiency of a consciousness of situation and without it, the infections volition further grow and enactment aesculapian systems nether terrible strain.”

Ad

Tokyo has been nether its 4th authorities of exigency since July 12, up of the Olympics, which began past Friday contempt wide nationalist absorption and interest that they Games could worsen the outbreak.

People are inactive roaming the streets contempt stay-at-home requests, making the measures mostly ineffective astatine a clip the much infectious delta strain is spreading, helium said. “We person ne'er seen the infections dispersed truthful rapidly."

Alarmed by the surge successful Tokyo, the governors of 3 prefectures adjacent to the superior said they program to inquire Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to spot their areas nether the authorities of exigency too.

Experts accidental Tokyo’s surge is being propelled by the delta variant of the microorganism and determination is nary grounds of the illness being transmitted from Olympic participants to the wide public.

Tokyo officials said Thursday that 2 overseas Olympic athletes are presently hospitalized and 38 others are self-isolating astatine designated hotels successful the city. Gov. Yuriko Koike urged the organizers to marque definite not to load Tokyo's hospitals.

Ad

Nationwide, Japan reported much than 9,500 confirmed cases, a caller record, connected Wednesday for a full of astir 892,000, with astir 15,000 deaths.

As of Wednesday, 26.3% of the Japanese colonisation has been afloat vaccinated. The percent of the aged who are afloat vaccinated is 70%, oregon 24.8 cardinal people.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.