Photo/Illutration Nurses treat a COVID-19 patient in an intensive care unit at Tokyo Medical and Dental University’s Medical Hospital in the capital’s Bunkyo Ward in March. (Provided by Tokyo Medical and Dental University’s Medical Hospital)

The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms around Japan reached a record 1,050 on May 1, surpassing the previous high of 1,043 set on Jan. 26, according to health ministry data.

As of 8:30 p.m. on May 2, 5,900 new infections were confirmed in Japan, an increase of 28 percent compared with the previous Sunday, as well as 61 deaths from COVID-19.

In Hokkaido, a record 326 new infections were confirmed on May 2, breaking the previous high of 304 set on Nov. 20.

Okayama Prefecture and Ishikawa Prefecture also set records for new COVID-19 cases, with 114 and 40, respectively, on May 2.

After the end of the third wave of infections, the number of COVID-19 patients in serious condition ranged from 320 to 339 in late March.

But the number has jumped in the fourth wave, and a number of local governments have said they lack medical staff and hospital beds to treat the surge in seriously ill patients.

Health experts have warned that if the number of patients requiring ventilators or an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device, which circulates blood through an artificial lung, continues to increase, the health care system could collapse.

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