Photo/Illutration The platform at JR Hakata Station in Fukuoka is almost empty after all limited express services were suspended to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. (Jun Kaneko)

Japan recorded 203 new novel coronavirus infections on May 3, bringing the total to 15,084 cases while the death toll increased to 536, according to health officials and other sources.

The figures, including 19 deaths on May 3, were as of 10 p.m. that day.

The number of infections around the country topped 5,000 on April 9 and 10,000 on April 18. From there, it took 15 days to hit the 15,000 mark.

In Tokyo, 91 new cases were confirmed on May 3, and the route of infection was unknown for 64 of them. The last time the number of new infections in the capital fell below 100 was on April 30.

In Kanagawa Prefecture, five nurses tested positive for the virus at the Odawara Municipal Hospital on May 3. An inpatient in her 70s died from COVID-19 at the hospital on the same day after her infection was confirmed on May 2.

In Chita, Aichi Prefecture, a woman in her 60s tested positive again for the virus.

She had been hospitalized earlier after her infection was confirmed on April 15, but she was later discharged after testing negative. Her second positive test came while she was self-isolating at home.

A man in his 40s in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, was diagnosed with a disease different from COVID-19 when he visited a hospital on April 26 after developing a fever that exceeded 38 degrees.

But his coronavirus infection was confirmed this month when he returned to the hospital for another examination after suffering from a persistent fever and coughing.

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