Photo/Illutration People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the novel coronavirus walk in an underground shopping center in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Aug. 18. (AP Photo)

Japan continued to set record highs of daily COVID-19 cases on Aug. 19, confirming more than 24,000 by 5:45 p.m. to top the previous record 23,916 cases set the previous day.

Tokyo reported a record high 5,534 fresh cases for a Thursday, its second highest for a single day after the 5,773 tallied on Aug. 13.

Osaka prefectural officials reported a record 2,443 new cases, setting a record high for the second straight day.

Saitama Prefecture reported a record 2,170 new cases, the first time Tokyo's northern neighbor exceeded 2,000 in its daily tally.

The Kawaguchi city government in the prefecture reported that a man in his 50s recuperating at home had died on Aug. 15. 

Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture, had a record 768 fresh cases, and one death. Shizuoka Prefecture logged a record 677 new cases.

Mie Prefecture hit a record 311 new cases, the first time its daily tally has topped 300. Gunma had a record 317 new cases, while Hiroshima Prefecture reported a record 362 cases.

Daily records were also broken in Tochigi Prefecture with 273 new cases, Kagoshima Prefecture with 251, Oita Prefecture with 198, Nara Prefecture with 173 and Nagano Prefecture with 158.

Toyama Prefecture logged a record 147 new cases, Niigata Prefecture had 132, Yamaguchi Prefecture reported 119, Nagasaki Prefecture tallied 114 and Kagawa Prefecture counted 111.

Ehime Prefecture reported a record 102 cases, Wakayama Prefecture had 84 and Kochi Prefecture had 80. Akita Prefecture also broke its daily record with 39 new cases. 

Fukuoka Prefecture on the main southern island of Kyushu reported 1,134 new cases, the second straight day the tally has exceeded 1,000, while Hyogo Prefecture also topped 1,000 for the second consecutive day with 1,078.

For the week ending Aug. 19, the daily average of new cases in Tokyo was 4,774.4, which represented a 20.1 percent increase over the previous week.

There were four fatalities in the capital from COVID-19, all patients in their 70s and 80s. There were also 274 COVID-19 patients with symptoms serious enough to require the use of a ventilator or other equipment to breathe, down one from the previous day.

Of the latest cases in Tokyo, 1,674 were in their 20s, 1,106 in their 30s, 911 in their 40s and 621 in their 50s. Another 540 were between 10 and 19, while there were 243 aged 65 and older.

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