Tokyo records highest daily Covid-19 infections since lifting of emergency
Tokyo, June 24 (efe-epa).- The Japanese capital on Wednesday recorded 55 Covid-19 cases, its highest number of new infections in a day since the state of emergency was lifted in the country.
It is also the first time the number of daily coronavirus infections has surpassed 50 since May 5 when 57 cases were recorded.
“Clusters in the workplace have become a big problem lately,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told reporters hours before the release of the figures.
The Japanese capital is witnessing an increase in Covid-19 cases, raising concerns about a new wave of infections in the country, which lifted restrictions on travel across the country and on businesses, some of which were asked by the government to shorten their working hours.
Until now, the authorities had linked most of the new cases to increased testing in Tokyo’s popular red-light district of Kabukicho and other nighttime entertainment areas.
The highest number of daily cases reported in Tokyo was 206 on Apr. 17 during the state of emergency.
With the latest cases, the total number of positive coronavirus infections detected in Tokyo has reached 5,895, of which only 6.6 percent, or 390, remain active, according to figures provided by the metropolitan government.
At least, 323 people have died in the capital due to the disease.
Tokyo is the most affected region due to Covid-19 with a third of the country’s 18,000 cases reported in the city.
The capital entered the third and final phase of reopening on June 12, lifting restrictions on business activities with an aim to restart its economy with restaurants and similar businesses resuming usual operations.
Japan, which lifted its states of emergency on May 25, has so far detected 18,034 confirmed infections so far, with 965 deaths.
In mid-June, the Japanese government launched a mobile tracing app called COCOA (COVID-19 Contact Confirmation Application), which notifies people who have been less than a meter away from an infected person for more than 15 minutes in the past 14 days in order for them to voluntarily quarantine or seek medical help. EFE-EPA
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