Photo/Illutration A restaurant employee wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus offers joss sticks at an incense burner in Tokyo's Asakusa district on July 27. (AP Photo)

Tokyo metropolitan government officials said the number of new COVID-19 cases decreased to 250 on July 29, but they expect a sharp escalation in confirmed infections from post-holiday testing.

It was the second straight day of more than 200 new cases in the capital, including 266 on July 28, and the 21st straight daily tally that topped 100.

Twenty-one of the new COVID-19 patients were suffering from severe symptoms on July 28, the officials said. The total number of those hospitalized was 1,209, a 4.3-fold increase over the 280 who were hospitalized in July 1.

An additional 483 patients were resting at home, a 12.4-fold increase over the 39 on July 1.

It normally takes about three days for the metropolitan government to confirm and compile test results for novel coronavirus infections.

The number of tests soared on July 27, the first day after a four-day weekend.

“There were about 1,000 people who had tests on July 26, but about 5,000 people were tested the following day,” a metropolitan government official said. “We are paying close attention because of the possibility of another large increase.”

The Tokyo metropolitan government on July 29 started a new practice of announcing the day’s new COVID-19 cases at 3 p.m.

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