Photo/Illutration People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk through an underpass in Tokyo on April 12. (AP Photo)

Tokyo confirmed 306 new COVID-19 cases on April 12, metropolitan government officials said, up 57 from the 249 reported the previous Monday. 

The count exceeded 300 cases for the first time on a Monday since the 393 tallied on Feb. 1.

Mondays usually mark fewer cases since the figures reflect infections confirmed about three days earlier, close to the weekend, when fewer people tend to be tested for the virus.

The 306 cases pushed the daily average for the week in the capital to 476.1, or 121.5 percent of the figure for the preceding week.

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

Of the 306 new cases, 88 patients were in their 20s, followed by 57 in their 30s and 47 in their 40s. There were 28 new patients aged 65 or older.

The number of serious cases in Tokyo requiring ventilators or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, also known as an ECMO lung bypass machine, increased by three from the previous day to 42 on April 12, the officials said.

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