Photo/Illutration Travelers on Shinkansen platforms at JR Tokyo Station on the morning of Aug. 7 (Yosuke Fukudome)

The governor of Tokyo's plea to residents not to travel outside of the capital due to an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide seems to have fallen on deaf ears as the Bon holiday season got under way.

Despite a state of emergency still in effect, cases of novel coronavirus infection driven by the highly contagious Delta variant continue to rise sharply.

Governor Yuriko Koike’s plea made days ago was delivered amid a general weariness over months-long restrictions on outdoor activities.

The Bon season is a time when millions of people across Japan traditionally return to their ancestral hometowns.

A state of emergency remains in effect in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures in the metropolitan area as well as Osaka and Okinawa prefectures until the end of the month.

“I know I shouldn't travel, but I cannot help it because I basically haven't been anywhere for the past year,” said a 59-year-old company employee at Tokyo Station on Aug. 7, speaking of her trip to Osaka to see a friend.

The woman was embarking on her journey as the national tally of newly confirmed daily infections for that day hit a record 15,753. Tokyo logged 4,566 new cases, its second highest count for a single day, after 5,042 two days earlier.

On Aug. 7, the number of infected patients forced to recuperate at home due to hospital bed shortages rose to 18,444 in the capital, up 408 from the previous day. In addition, 12,000 others are waiting to learn from public health centers whether they should recuperate at home, in a facility or be hospitalized.

Metropolitan government officials said a record 3,485 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized in Tokyo.

From Aug. 8, eight more prefectures, including Fukushima, Tochigi, Aichi, Kumamoto, were placed under pre-emergency measures due to the coronavirus.

Crowds near major train stations in these prefectures, except for Nagoya Station in Aichi Prefecture, thinned by between 5 and 13 percent as of 1 p.m. on Aug. 7, compared with a week ago, according to estimate based on GPS data by NTT Docomo Inc.

These prefectures were added to five, including Hyogo, Fukuoka and the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, which are under the same alert level.

The GPS data by NTT Docomo based on smartphone usage by people outdoors also showed that crowds at Tokyo Station between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Aug. 7 were roughly 15 percent larger than the same time a week earlier.

The figure for Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka Prefecture showed a rise of 3 percent.

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