By SHUJI SHIDA/ Staff Writer
November 1, 2020 at 13:36 JST
Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki speaks at a news conference in Sapporo on Oct. 30. (Ichiro Matsuo)
A record 81 novel coronavirus patients were confirmed in Hokkaido on Oct. 31, bringing the cumulative total in the northernmost main island to 3,136, officials said.
The death toll rose to 110 after one was reported dead in the capital, Sapporo, on the day.
The number of new COVID-19 cases has been surging in Hokkaido, a popular tourist destination, since early October. The Oct. 31 figure topped the previous daily record of 69 reported just the previous day.
Of the 81 new patients confirmed on Oct. 31, 54 were found in Sapporo, also a record for the city. The figure includes a cluster of five cases that occurred at a bar in Susukino, a nightlife district.
In Hokkaido, 51 new cases were confirmed on Oct. 23, topping the 45 reported on April 23, the highest figure when the island was under a state of emergency.
Hokkaido on Oct. 28 raised its alert level for the novel coronavirus one notch from the lowest 1, the first increase since it introduced a five-level scale in August.
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