Japan’s daily coronavirus cases top 1,000 for 1st time
The record single-day tally, based on information given by local authorities, came after prefectures with huge urban populations other than Tokyo, including Aichi and Osaka, reported their highest numbers of infections.
Iwate, the last of Japan's 47 prefectures to have no confirmed coronavirus infections, also reported its first case on Wednesday.
The Osaka prefectural government said 221 another cases of the virus, up from 155 on Tuesday, were confirmed.
As well as Osaka, the central Japan prefecture of Aichi saw a single-day record for the second straight day, confirming 167 new cases of the virus causing the COVID-19 respiratory disease.
When daily new infections in Tokyo on July 9 surpassed 200 for the first time since a nationwide state of emergency was fully lifted in late May, the capital accounted for around 60 percent of the 356 infections confirmed across Japan that day.
But Tokyo only accounted for around 30 percent of the record 982 single-day infections of the virus reported Tuesday, reflecting a resurgence of infections that is beginning to expand throughout the country.
The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 250 new cases of the virus on Wednesday, bringing its cumulative total to 11,861, about half of which were reported this month.
The capital accounts for around a third of the nationwide tally of over 33,900, including around 700 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama in February.
The metropolitan government has raised its pandemic alert to the highest of four levels, meaning «infections are spreading.»