Photo/Illutration Passengers wait for the last train of the day at JR Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo on Jan. 21. The railway operator moved up the time for the last train to help authorities slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Kazuhiro Nagashima)

Tokyo reported 973 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 27, dipping below 1,000 again, metropolitan health officials said.

However, serious cases in the capital rose to 159 on the day, an increase of 11 from Jan. 26.

Tokyo designates serious cases as patients requiring ventilators or an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device, which circulates blood through an artificial lung.

The latest new case figures for Tokyo followed the 1,026 reported on Jan. 26, after the 986 logged on Jan. 24 and 618 on Jan. 25.

Of the 973 new cases, patients 65 or older led all age groups with 217. They were followed by 193 people in their 20s, 160 in their 30s, 146 in their 50s and 144 in their 40s.

The national death toll for Jan. 26 stood at 104, the second highest after the record 108 logged on Jan. 22.

Osaka Prefecture reported 14 deaths, the most of any prefecture, followed by Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture, which each reported 13 deaths, nine in Saitama Prefecture and seven in Hyogo Prefecture.

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