Photo/Illutration Yellow illumination of the Nagoya TV Tower and the Oasis 21 complex’s Spaceship-Aqua structure is a signal for local residents to be on the alert to prevent a further spread of novel coronavirus infections. (Masaki Yamamoto)

Records for new COVID-19 cases were shattered across Japan on July 23, when the nationwide tally hit 981.

The daily figure in Tokyo topped 300 for the first time--by a large margin--with 366 cases reported.

Records were broken for the third straight day in Aichi Prefecture, with 97 newly confirmed infections, and Fukuoka Prefecture, with 66.

Osaka Prefecture confirmed 104 novel coronavirus infections on July 23, the second straight day the daily figure exceeded 100.

Other prefectures with record daily totals were Saitama with 64, Shiga with 17, Nara with 13 and Wakayama with nine.

Tokyo has now had 15 straight days with 100 or more confirmed infections.

Of the record 366 cases reported in the capital, 63 percent were among those between 20 and 40. But infections were also spreading in other age groups: 51 cases among those in their 40s; 23 among those in their 50s, 24 for those under 20; and 36 for those 60 and older.

One troubling trend was that the infection routes were unknown in 225 cases, or 61 percent of the total.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on July 23 again called on local residents to refrain from nonessential outings over the remainder of the four-day weekend.

One reason for the high number of confirmed cases was that a record high 4,926 individuals took various tests to check for infections on July 20. Confirmation of the results of such tests normally takes about three days.

The daily average rate of positive results for the week ending July 21 was 6.7 percent.

The rate of positive results for July 23 was slightly higher in Osaka Prefecture at 7.1 percent. Of the prefecture’s 104 new cases, infection routes were untraceable for 78.

About 70 percent of the Osaka cases were people between 10 and 40.

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