Photo/Illutration A man and a woman snap a selfie on a Tokyo street lit up during "vehicle-free hours" on Dec. 24. The annual illumination program shortened its hours, shutting down at 8 p.m. to discourage people from lingering as a precaution against the novel coronavirus. (AP Photo)

Tokyo confirmed 884 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Dec. 25, showing no sign that the recent red-hot spike in infections would be cooling off anytime soon.

The capital reported a record-high 888 new cases the previous day.

The Dec. 25 daily count was Tokyo's highest yet for a Friday and second highest overall.

Tokyo has set records for new infections for each day of the week for 11 consecutive days.

On Dec. 25, 81 patients, up eight from the previous day, were classified as having severe symptoms that require the use of a ventilator or an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device, which circulates blood through an artificial lung.

The number is the highest since the nationwide state of emergency to contain the virus was lifted earlier this year.

Of the 884 new patients reported, 246 were in their 20s, 175 in their 30s, 154 in their 40s, 109 in their 50s and 94 were age 65 or older.

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