Photo/Illutration Many women in Tokyo’s Asakusa district on March 22 wear rented kimono to enjoy spending time with their friends before graduation. (Noriyasu Nukui)

Tokyo confirmed 420 new COVID-19 cases on March 24, the first time in a week the daily count topped 400, according to metropolitan government officials.

The last time the capital’s daily tally exceeded 400 was March 17, when 409 new cases were reported.

Tokyo's new cases have surpassed the number recorded the same day in the previous week for five consecutive days.

The latest tally brought the daily average for the week in the capital through March 24 to 309.7, or 103.6 percent of the figure for the prior week.

The metropolitan government has set a weekly goal of reducing the average to 70 percent of the previous week.

The number of serious cases in Tokyo requiring ventilators or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, also known as an ECMO lung bypass machine, remained unchanged from the previous day at 42, the officials said.

Of the 420 new cases, 103 patients were age 65 or older, 89 patients were in their 20s, 62 in their 30s and 55 in their 40s.

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