Photo/Illutration Many pedestrians gather in the fashionable Ginza district of Tokyo on July 23, the start of a four-day weekend. (Shiro Nishihata)

Tokyo reported more than 200 new COVID-19 infections for the fifth straight day on July 25.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike announced the 295 figure to reporters.

The sharp increase is due in part to the growing number of individuals taking tests to confirm if they have been infected.

So far this month, there have been 12 days with more than 200 infections.

July 25 marked the 17th straight day of 100 or more infections.

The increase in new infections has added greater pressure on Tokyo’s medical care structure.

Authorities said there were 1,040 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 as of July 24, a 3.7-fold increase over July 1 when there were only 280 patients in hospitals.

The last time there were more than 1,000 patients in Tokyo hospitals was on May 17.

Tokyo has now confirmed more than 10,000 COVID-19 infections and the monthly record for new cases was broken on July 22, when the total for Tokyo exceeded the 3,748 cases reported in April.

When a record daily tally of 366 new cases was announced on July 23, Koike urged local residents to refrain from nonessential outings over the four-day weekend that began that day.

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