Photo/Illutration Shigeru Omi, head of the virus subcommittee under a government expert panel, speaks at a news conference on COVID-19 measures on July 31. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

COVID-19 infections apparently peaked in late July after a surge of cases earlier in the month, according to a government task force grappling to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The virus subcommittee of the task force said Aug. 21 the number of days that patients began showing symptoms was the highest around July 27-29 and is now slowly receding in most parts of the country.

But the trend remains unclear in some areas, the subcommittee said.

The panel analyzed the trend in regions where major outbreaks occurred based on days patients began complaining of symptoms, not the days their infections were confirmed.

This led it to conclude that patients’ symptoms peaked between July 27 and July 29.

Hitoshi Oshitani, a professor of virology at Tohoku University who conducted the analysis, said many indications in Tokyo point to a peak in late July.

But new cases are still high in the capital, compared with other parts of Japan, and could still rise depending on new outbreaks, he added.

Oshitani also said it is difficult to conclude whether the trajectory curve has plateaued in Okinawa Prefecture, where new cases have surged in recent weeks.

However, he said it is possible that cases are declining slowly.

Shigeru Omi, who heads the panel, called on the public to remain vigilant against the disease, noting at a news conference a rise in seriously ill patients in recent weeks, which he said imposed a burden on the public health care system.

“The number of patients may have hit a peak, but it does not mean that we can let down our guard just yet,” he said.

It takes time to identify exactly when a patient began showing the first symptoms of COVID-19.

As a result, it is possible that data available to the panel at the time did not reflect the trend in some regions during the Bon festival in the second week of this month when large numbers of people traveled to their hometowns.

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