Photo/Illutration An aerial view of Tokyo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

With 212 new COVID-19 infections confirmed in Tokyo on Aug. 23, that brought the total cases in August to 6,642, topping the capital's highest monthly record of 6,466 in July.

Across Japan, 747 new cases were announced as of 10:30 p.m. along with nine new deaths related to COVID-19. 

Two infected patients in the capital were newly listed as having severe symptoms, raising the number of such patients in Tokyo to 39.

The Tokyo metropolitan government considers patients who are on a ventilator or an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine (ECMO) as having severe symptoms.

A cluster inflection was reported at Tojun Hospital in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward. Six patients, men and women in their 60s through 80s, tested positive, along with a male staff member in his 50s.

The hospital is a designated medical institution for accepting patients suspected of being infected. Five of the six patients had been in private rooms as they were thought likely to have the virus.

But their polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests came back negative so they were then moved to rooms for large groups. The cluster is believed to have occurred there.

Osaka Prefecture reported 122 new cases, topping 100 for the sixth consecutive day. Eight were users and staff of a facility for elderly people in Izumiotsu, in an apparent cluster infection.

Two patients with severe symptoms were newly added, bringing its total number of such patients to 68.

Osaka Prefecture has a 188-bed capacity for patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms. A total of 36.2 percent of the beds are now filled.

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