Photo/Illutration The central area of Tokyo with Mount Fuji in the background (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

COVID-19 cases across Japan continued to climb July 31 with preliminary figures showing the total already exceeded the previous day's record of 10,743.

In Tokyo, for the first time, the daily count of new cases reached the 4,000 mark on July 31.

Record case numbers were confirmed in at least seven prefectures: Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, which are all adjacent to Tokyo, as well as Gunma, Tochigi, Kyoto and Okinawa.

In Saitama Prefecture, the daily tally of new COVID-19 cases exceeded 1,000 for the first time with 1,036. The previous record for Saitama, 869, was logged July 28.

In Kanagawa Prefecture, 1,580 fresh COVID-19 cases were confirmed, the fourth consecutive day to break its daily record.

In Tokyo, the host city of the Summer Olympics, metropolitan government officials said there were a record 4,058 new cases on July 31.

The daily average for the week ending July 31 for Tokyo was 2,920, a staggering 117 percent increase over the previous week.

Among the new patients, 1,484 were in their 20s, followed by 887 in their 30s, 583 in their 40s and 398 in their 50s. Officials said 106 patients were aged at 65 or older.

Ninety-five patients had symptoms serious enough to require the use of a ventilator or other equipment to breathe, up seven from the previous day.

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics reported 21 new COVID-19 cases among people connected to the Games on July 31.

Fourteen of them worked as contractors, five of whom are from overseas. Seven of them were Olympic-related officials. Sixteen of the 21 patients live in Japan. That brings the number of Olympic-related people who have tested positive to the virus since July 1 to 241.

In Okinawa, the nation's southernmost prefecture, local government officials confirmed a record 439 new COVID-19 cases on July 31.

It was the first time for the daily tally there to exceed 400.

Related News