Photo/Illutration Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Okinawa ranked as the prefecture with the highest ratio of new coronavirus infections across the country with 18.33 cases per 100,000 residents for the week between July 26 and Aug. 1, prefectural authorities said.

The latest tally for new infections, as of 9 p.m. on Aug. 2, was 64, the second highest after 65 cases were confirmed on July 31. The figure was released after the prefectural government declared a state of emergency.

It marked the fourth consecutive day of more than 50 new confirmed cases. 

The new cases included a boy and a girl under the age of 10, as well as a male assembly member of Tomigusuku city in his 40s.

Miyakojima and Ishigaki cities in Okinawa’s remote islands also added five new infection cases combined.

The Okinawa Red Cross Hospital in Naha announced that a nurse and six patients had tested positive by Aug. 1. One of the patients, a man in his 60s, died.

The prefectural government regards the case as a group infection and is investigating whether COVID-19 was the cause of the man's death.

Authorities also said that the capacity utilization rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 infected patients had reached 130 percent due to the surge in cases. About 140 infected patients are waiting to be hospitalized.

“We have to protect the system to provide medical services,” Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said as he announced at an Aug. 2 news conference that he will ask patients without symptoms and those with mild symptoms to self-isolate at home.

He also called on former nurses and public health nurses to return to work to help alleviate a shortage of medical staff.

The same day, new cases of infection nationwide hit 1,333, the fifth straight day of more than 1,000 new cases.

Tokyo reported 292 new cases, the highest for all prefectures. However, the figure was less than 300 for the first time in four days since July 29 when 250 new infections were confirmed.

The capital had been breaking records, marking more than 400 cases for two days in a row on July 31 and Aug. 1.

Among the new cases in Tokyo, 30 people were infected by their families. Two families of five and two families of four were all infected with the virus by Aug. 2.

Also, six of seven people in a group who traveled to rural areas were infected. In another case, three people in a group who went fishing by car were all infected.

COVID-19 infections have been spreading further in and out of major metropolitan areas.

Miyazaki Prefecture confirmed 30 new infection cases, its highest number in a single day.

Nagasaki Prefecture reported 23 new infections, breaking records for the third consecutive day, while Mie Prefecture confirmed 12 new infections, breaking records for two days in a row.

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