Photo/Illutration Health care workers attend to a seriously ill COVID-19 patient requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, also known as an ECMO lung bypass machine, at Fukuoka University Hospital in Fukuoka on May 10. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Tokyo confirmed 4,227 new COVID-19 cases on Aug. 27 and a record 294 patients in serious condition, according to metropolitan government officials.

The number of serious cases in the capital requiring ventilators or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, also known as an ECMO lung bypass machine, was up 18 from Aug. 26.

The health ministry said on Aug. 27 that a record 2,000 patients were listed as seriously ill nationwide as of Aug. 26, the 15th consecutive day the figure topped the previous high. The number rose by 26 from Aug. 25 following a surge in new infections.

Aichi Prefecture set a new record for fresh infections for the fourth straight day on Aug. 27 with 2,347, while the figure for its capital, Nagoya, exceeded 1,000 for the first time to reach 1,139. Osaka Prefecture confirmed 2,814 new cases, the second highest on record. 

The deaths of 18 COVID-19 patients in their 30s to 90s were also reported in Tokyo on Aug. 27.

The capital’s latest number of new infections was down 1,178 from a week ago, bringing the daily average of new COVID-19 cases in the metropolis over the week through Aug. 27 to 4,184.6, or 88.6 percent of the figure for the preceding week.

The average number of diagnostic tests conducted in the capital over the three days through Aug. 26 stood at 15,436.3.

Of the 4,227 cases, 1,208 patients were in their 20s, followed by 785 in their 30s, 691 in their 40s and 482 in their 50s. Patients aged between 10 to 19 accounted for 427 cases, while 204 were 65 or older.

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