TOKYO, Nov 14 (NNN-NHK) – Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, reiterated his call for measures to be taken, to tackle a resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the country, as Japan confirmed a record-high number of cases yesterday.
Suga told reporters that, cases had been surging in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Osaka and Aichi prefectures.
The prime minister’s remarks came, as the nation saw record high cases of COVID-19 for two consecutive days.
He said, having been briefed on the situation by Economic Revitalisation Minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is also in charge of Japan’s coronavirus response, and Health Minister, Norihisa Tamura, he instructed his ministers to make all-out efforts to tackle the spread of the virus, while working with local governments.
As to the government subsidised “Go To Travel” campaign, launched to encourage increased domestic travel, to help the ailing tourism industry, he said, based on experts’ views, it needn’t be reviewed at this juncture.
The Japanese prime minister went on to urge people to maintain basic antiviral measures, and avoid high-risk situations, such as eating out in groups and holding conversations without wearing face masks.
Suga’s remarks were followed later in the day by Japan reporting 1,693 new cases, marking a fresh record high, following the previous day’s tally.
The latest rise in cases brings the nation’s cumulative total of infections to 115,516, not including those connected to a cruise ship that was quarantined near Tokyo earlier in the year.
Health ministry officials, said, 231 people testing positive for the virus have been designated as being in a “severe condition” and are being treated with breathing apparatus in medical facilities.
Tokyo, the hardest hit among Japan’s 47 prefectures, confirmed 374 new cases yesterday.
This marks the third consecutive day the daily tally in the capital of 14 million has topped the 300-mark and has brought the city’s cumulative total of COVID-19 cases to 34,144.
Japan’s western prefecture of Osaka, the second hardest hit region, reported 263 new cases, bringing its total caseload to 14,870 infections.
The country’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, meanwhile, the location of a spike in infections and outbreaks of clusters recently, reported 235 new infections, to total 5,055.
Official said, as the temperature drops as winter approaches, particularly in northern regions, more people are staying indoors, sometimes in poorly ventilated rooms, which has helped the virus to spread.
Tokyo’s neighbouring prefecture of Kanagawa, for its part, saw cases rise by 146 yesterday to 9,893 infections, according to the latest data. Infections in Kanagawa remain the third highest in Japan.
Confirmed deaths in the country have now reached a total of 1,895, the latest figures last night showed.– NNN-NHK
