Photo/Illutration Police patrol downtown Nagoya to ask people to refrain from going out on April 16. (Masaki Yamamoto)

Japan confirmed 578 new infections of the novel coronavirus on April 16, raising the total number of cases nationwide past 10,000.

The country had confirmed 10,019 cases as of 11 p.m., including those aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama Port and travelers quarantined at domestic airports.

Tokyo confirmed 149 cases, continuing to top the nation in daily new infections.

Infection spikes were confirmed in the Tohoku, Hokuriku and Chugoku regions, with virus cases more than doubling in some local areas as of April 16 compared to April 7, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and six prefectures to contain the spread.

In Ishikawa Prefecture of the Hokuriku region, the total number of infection cases amounted to 146, a surge from the 55 it reported just nine days earlier on April 7.

Hiroshima Prefecture confirmed 118 cases in total, an increase of more than sixfold since April 7 when it reported 19.

Toyama Prefecture had 68 cases in total as of April 16, a jump from 13 on April 7.

Osaka Prefecture had 52 new cases on April 16, raising its total infections to 1,020.

There were 58 new infections in Chiba Prefecture, bringing its total to 600.

Japan's death toll from the virus reached 204 with 12 new deaths across the nation.

In Tokyo, three patients in their 60s to 90s died, bringing the total number of deaths in the capital to 56.

Four female staffers tested positive at Bokutoh Hospital in Tokyo's Sumida Ward and one coronavirus patient there died, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government.

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