TOKYO, July 21 (NNN-NHK) – Japan confirmed 419 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, with 168 new cases reported in Tokyo, and the nation’s death toll from the virus crossed 1,000, including cases related to a cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama in Feb.
Japan’s cumulative number of COVID-19 cases now stands at more than 25,000, with the death toll totalling 1,001.
Officials said that people aged 60 or older, comprised more than 90 percent of the deaths, although concerns have been increasing about rising numbers of COVID-19 infections among younger people.
While younger people infected may experience less severe symptoms, officials said, the concern stem from the fact that they could pass the infection on to older people, who suffer more severe and fatal symptoms.
While the death toll has seen a downturn since May, concerns remain over a resurgence of cases in urban areas, officials said. Aside from Tokyo, daily cases in Osaka were confirmed at 49, while Tokyo’s neighbouring prefecture of Saitama reported 29 new COVID-19 cases.
In Tokyo, where a spike in daily cases saw the metropolitan government raise its alert level for the virus to the highest on its four-tier scale, officials called for nightclubs to take more preventative measures.
The metropolitan government said, patrols were conducted by officials in Shinjuku Ward’s Kabukicho nighttime entertainment district.
Kenichi Yoshizumi, mayor of Shinjuku, was quoted as saying that “the future of the entertainment district is at stake” with regard to Kabukicho.
The patrols visited bars and nightclubs and urged their owners and employees to do more to curb the spread of the virus, including ensuring establishments are well ventilated and sanitary measures maintained with disinfecting work carried out frequently.
Patrols will also be carried out today, official said, with 300 bars and clubs aimed to be covered and issued with Yoshizumi’s “strong message.”
Japan’s top government spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, told a press briefing that police may also be deployed to inspect bars and clubs in virus-hit nighttime spots.
Suga said, such actions could help prevent the virus from spreading.
With concerns also rising, about COVID-19 infections spreading on U.S. military bases in Japan’s southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, Japan’s Defence Minister, Taro Kono, called on the United States to conduct COVID-19 testing on all U.S. military personnel coming to Japan.
Kono said, the defence ministry here requested that U.S. military personnel bound for Japan take one test prior to leaving the United States and one, upon arrival in Japan.
“With so many asymptomatic people, testing is a must,” Kono said, to be carried out without exception on military personnel.
Okinawa Gov., Denny Tamaki, meanwhile, also asked the U.S. to clarify whether they are taking the necessary prevention measures while based in Okinawa, including two-week quarantine measures where necessary.
Tamaki also called for the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to be reviewed, as U.S. military personnel are exempt from Japan’s quarantine rules and travel bans.
Okinawa hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, yet the tiny subtropical island accounts for just a fraction of Japan’s total landmass.– NNN-NHK
