Photo/Illutration Road cones are set up at the center of a street inside Tokyo’s Ueno Park to separate pedestrians and prevent close contact due to novel coronavirus fears. (The Asahi Shimbun)

Tokyo confirmed 329 cases of novel coronavirus infection on Feb. 28, the second consecutive day for the number of new patients to exceed 300.

The daily average for the week through Feb. 28 came to 277.4, or 81.2 percent of the daily average for the previous week.

Tokyo metropolitan government officials anxiously hope the daily average for any given seven-day period will stay at 70 percent or lower of the preceding week.

The capital remains under a state of emergency until at least March 7.

Of the 329 new patients, 50 people were in their 30s, the largest age group, followed by 45 in their 80s, 43 in their 20s and 40 in their 70s.

There were 131 new patients aged 65 or older.

The number of serious cases stood at 67, down one from the previous day.

Tokyo defines serious cases as those requiring a ventilator or an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device, which circulates blood through an artificial lung.

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